6 Graphic Design Project Ideas to Help You When You’re in a Creative Rut
Maybe you have some extra free time to yourself or perhaps you’ve hit that one major hurdle that every graphic designer dreads: a creative rut. Designers look to the former as an exciting opportunity to experiment with new graphic design projects, while the latter can be a disappointing, albeit inevitable season of life for any creative. Yet, what feels like a lull in creativity is actually the best time to lean into your projects.
It might sound a little backwards, but creative ruts are often drivers of inspiration. So, during this time, what can you do to keep your skills sharp, avoid a time suck and recharge your creative batteries? Challenge yourself to try something entirely new.
This is an opportunity to expand your skillset and extend your network through collaboration. Allow yourself the freedom to try things and mess up and use this time to build up your confidence; self-initiated projects may help you discover something you likely wouldn’t encounter in client projects.
But where should you begin? If you’re having a difficult time finding new graphic design project ideas to try, there are a few places you can start: like browsing student portfolios, checking out leaders in the industry or just scrolling through Instagram. Yo u’ll soon discover that there is motivation all around you.
To get you started, here are 6 graphic design project ideas you can try the next time you need a little extra motivation.
1. Timed Experiments
Looking for a quick way to unblock? Setting yourself a challenge that is restricted by time is a great way to increase creativity and produce some fun, unexpected results. UK based designer and illustrator Shaun Swainland set himself a challenge called The Ten Minute Type Project . The result is a varied collection of individual letterforms, words and phrases in a multitude of styles from graphic and 3D to hand-rendered. Even our own teachers here at Shillington are constantly taking on side projects and challenges to keep themselves sharp. It’s practice makes perfect for Cathy Sison who has perfected her calligraphy through posting daily inspirational quotes to her Instagram account .
Both Alan Barba and Nikita Prokhorov each practice the art of lettering through their quick, colorful explorations of anything from scripts and three-dimensional type to ambigrams.
Setting a short time limit like 10 minutes leaves no room for creative indecisiveness and instead brings in the kind of spontaneity that helps creativity grow.
2. Gamify your learning
Getting unstuck from a creative block doesn’t always have to be a serious endeavor.
Designercize takes traditional whiteboard exercises to the digital realm with a fun retro gaming, analog throwback design. Designercize helps you test your problem-solving skills as a designer. You simply choose a level of difficulty and a random design prompt is generated for you. Each prompt acts as a simple brief with information about what you need to design and who it’s for.
There’s also an optional timer if you’re up to the challenge. According to the creators, Zach Albert and Jake Fleming , in just 15 minutes a day Designercize gives you better design thinking, helps you make faster design decisions and helps with interview skills.
You can also gamify your learning with other people and connect with a larger design community
Playoffs by Dribbble is an online platform that allow designers to upload a Shot (design) and prompt the community to upload their own Shot inspired by the original. With anything from logos and poster design through to app screens and packaging, it’s a fun, inventive way to riff off other creative ideas and help expand your own.
Try these other brief generators to download generated briefs with a bit of structure to guide you:
- Briefbox (Bonus: our students and Shillumni get a 40% discount off their services!)
- Fake Clients
- What Should I Design
3. Design to Redesign
A brand redesign occurs for a variety of reasons including an outdated image, a change in target audience, international growth, new management or even a bad reputation.
Sometimes establishing a new brand identity doesn’t necessitate a complete rebrand, but instead relies on finding a balance between tradition and modernity; merging the old with the new. Other times, a rebrand might mean a complete overhaul.
Check out Under Consideration’s Before-After archives for in-depth case studies on the latest rebrands by industry leaders. It is a fantastic resource to find inspiration in the whys and hows behind rebranding projects and a starting point in undertaking one yourself.
Take, for example, the rebranding of online learning community Skillshare . With a previous logo that wasn’t flexible enough for digital spaces, Skillshare created a new dynamic identity that is more legible and communicates their spirit of experimentation, exploration and discovery.
Or how about the rebrand of Eight , a company that designs products, content and tools to help people sleep better for optimum performance each day. Originally designed with calming colors to be used within a sleep-inducing environment and a logo that reflected the phases of the moon, the company has now seen a complete brand refresh. “The rebrand moved Eight Sleep from mattress company to sleep fitness company. Borrowing cues from athletic brands, the new identity stands in stark contrast to the predominately cute and simple voice of the mattress category and creates a whole new category unto itself.”
Next time you’re facing a rut or are blessed with some spare time on your hands, choose a business you think might be facing one of the aforementioned issues and challenge yourself to revamp their brand image. You could choose to take on a larger global brand or perhaps you could choose a small business, local in your community and even pitch it to them down the line.
4. Passion projects
A great way to get yourself out from under the pressure of a creative rut is to pause and reflect on your passions.
Undertake a self-initiated graphic design project that reflects the things you feel connected to. Not only will this work reflect your personality, but it will also add a more personal dimension to your portfolio and help shape the kind of work that comes your way in the future. What if your passion, interests or sense of humor resonates with potential clients? Your self-initiated project could be a shortcut to landing your dream job.
“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them”—Chris Grosser
Try exploring a design project that represents your approach, process or simply something you love about design
London based graphic designer Duane Dalton , currently a designer at SocioDesign , explores projects that reflect his love of clear communication in design. One project, an extensive series of simple stamps, use only type and simple, uniform shapes. The design series is a nod to the minimalistic qualities that are often employed throughout the rest of his work in logo design and brand identity systems.
Duane’s second undertaking is a project called Album Anatomy . “An exploration in the art of reduction. It breaks down album imagery into its purest form by discarding any unnecessary information.” Purist and Swiss in its use of a strict grid for the album details, each design reflects Duane’s personal response to an album.
Instead of design themes, you could also try something that shows off your personality or individual beliefs instead.
In March of 2017 illustrator, Josh Ryan created his series Introflirted , a series of love notes for introverts. Combining fun illustrations with witty expressions that would resonate with any true introvert, his project is now being published into a book of 31 postcards to tear out and send to all the introverts in your life.
Another great example is taken from our very own Shillington student showcase , Juliette Van Rhyn’s packaging project for an alcohol-free spirit was inspired by Berlin’s club culture but with the idea of catering to a more grown-up crowd who still crave the “unique connecting experience” but without the hangover. Get inspired by her full graphic design project here .
5. Collaborations and Swaps
It can be a truly inspiring thing to have a creative partner to collaborate with. Not only can they help with a creative rut, but they can also prove to be a support source to lean on, help things run more efficiently and help an ambitious goal feel more attainable. They are also a second creative mind to inject into a project. It’s way more fun to let a project unfold as the product of two or more brains, rather than just your own.
London designer, illustrator and part-time teacher George Simkin recently teamed up with Shillington graduate Juliette van Rhyn to create Good Shape Studio , a creative outlet to experiment and “explore the intersection between design and play.”
However, a beneficial collaboration doesn’t always have to be with a fellow creative. Teaming up to trade skills with a collaborator with a different skillset or offering up services in exchange for the non-monetary benefit can also help you to extend your network and gain invaluable experience.
A skill swap can be a great way for new designers to get experience working with clients when first getting started, or even experienced designers looking to break into a new niche. It’s an effective way to figure out or refine your process and of course, there’s the added bonus of a living, breathing design out in the real world beyond your portfolio.
When New York-based designer Lauren Hom wanted to branch out into chalk lettering she decided to combine two loves of lettering and lunching into a graphic design project called Will Letter for Lunch and offered free chalkboard art for restaurants in exchange for lunch. What started as a fun project turned into landing major paid projects with large clients.
6. Design Challenges
Participating in design challenges is a great way to inject some creativity with a community connection as well. The self-discipline required to take on such an endeavor is not just a fun way to break free from a rut, but can also serve as a nice distraction from the creative restraints of client work and a vital tool in gaining new skills.
LA-based product designer Travis Kane graduated in 2015 and rose to the heights of Instagram-fame in 2019 with his poster-a-day project . Not only did the project act as a means of some cathartic self-expression, but it also led to many freelance commissions outside of his day job, mainly across music and fashion.
“I’ve always had a passion for personal work and taking the client out of the equation, just making stuff for the hell of it and to express how I’m feeling. I learned that the end result doesn’t really matter: it was more learning about myself in general than about design.” ( AIGA, Eye on Design )
Check out other poster-based challenges like Blank Poster and Poster Jam which challenge designers to create based on a weekly or monthly chosen word.
The 100 Day Project is the brainchild of Elle Luna and Lindsay Jean Thomson. The goal is to inspire and motivate makers from all walks to create daily. Choose any project, do it for 100 days and join an online global community by posting on Instagram with the hashtag #the100dayproject.
The Daily Logo Challenge , 36 Days of Type and Inktober are all fantastic challenge that are sure to get your creative wheels turning.
So there you have it. A creative lull isn’t always something to worry about, instead, it is a fantastic opportunity to lean into projects and get experimental. So next time you find yourself with some free time or approaching that disappointing hurdle, think about trying some of the graphic design projects above. This will help drive inspiration, sharpen skills, build your confidence and recharge your creative batteries. Turn that rut into creative rewards!
Article by Shillington London teacher Hilary Archer .
Artwork by Shillington Manchester teacher Ed Baptist .
Enjoyed this guest author post? Read this article from Shillington London teacher Mark Ellis on ‘What You Need in Your Creative Toolkit’ and ways you can develop as a designer to succeed in your career. Learn about our online graphic design course and how you can become a designer!
Hilary Archer February 11, 2020
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Seven graphic design projects from students at University for the Creative Arts
A graphic novel based on a 1920 science fiction play and a creative platform encouraging students to collaborate feature in Dezeen's latest school show by students at the University for the Creative Arts .
Also included is a botanical magazine that explores the popularity of the houseplant industry and an app designed to highlight fake news stories.
- University for the Creative Arts
School: University for the Creative Arts Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design
School statement:
"Visual storytelling shapes the way we respond to information. This year's graphic design and communication graduates from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) have created brilliant and thought-provoking projects, from editorial design and branding to motion graphics, book arts, and visual narratives through various mediums and platforms.
"Adopting a hands-on approach to conveying messages and meanings, these graduates have carved out their styles. Explore their works below and on UCA's 2021 Online Graduate Showcase and discover their unique voices as they emerge ready to take the graphic design world by storm."
Roisin Knappert
"From the anti-authoritarian battle in Hong Kong, the global success of Extinction Rebellion demonstrations, to the Black Lives Matter movement, we have seen unprecedented levels of political dissent on the international stage, and we have seen it unfold through our screens.
"My Book 'Dangerous Symbols' communicates this cultural phenomenon and encourages young people to be politically engaged through the socio-political value of symbols.
"As a designer and social communicator, I have created stencils in the book which my reader can use to engage in protest creatively. Given the tools to create, these symbols can go on to unify movements and broadcast their messages effectively."
Student: Roisin Knappert Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design: Visual Communications, UCA Instagram: ricky_knappert_
Josh Wijsveld
"In these challenging and often uninspiring times, I have created the X Collab, a unique platform bringing together creatives from universities throughout the nation to provide exposure, networking and a means of making artwork in an alternative manner.
"It is designed by creatives for creatives to be a catalyst for multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaborations. Our first digital showcase was 01/Blue – named because of the colour's connection with inspiration, creativity and hope.
"We understand how much of a challenge it has been to create throughout the pandemic so this platform gives an outlet to the multitude of creative students out there."
Student: Josh Wijsveld Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design: Visual Communications, UCA Instagram: jwijsveld
Grace Anderson
"The Descendants is a graphic novel based on future predictions of our world and inspired by the 1920 science fiction play R.U.R written by the Czech writer Karel Čapek, in which robots turn on their creators after being given human emotions.
"With my mechanical and creative mindset, I refused to reduce these machines to a word – robot – that in Slavonic means servitude or drudgery.
"A machine can have ten times the intelligence of a human and if given emotions they might not act as selfishly as we humans do and succumb to a macabre fate. It is this contradiction I've based my story on."
Student: Grace Anderson Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design, UCA Instagram: gmmart_
Aryana Deen
"My final project is inspired by my heritage and looks at the tale of 'Mirza and Sahiban', one of the four popular tragic romances of Punjab.
"By fragmenting the original story, I created my version of it using the Image Two Platform, combining digital drawing and collage. I have always had a passion for image-making and various illustrative techniques. The image platform allowed me to create more experimental pieces of work for this project."
Student: Aryana Deen Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design, UCA Instagram: ad_gdesign_
Caitlin Carter
"For my final major project, I created a magazine called Botanical to explore the popularity of the houseplant industry.
"Tailoring it for a generation of houseplant lovers and those interested in supporting the independent magazine industry, my magazine is an upmarket, minimal and clean publication displaying gorgeous imagery as well as information as to how best look after houseplants.
"The first issue is themed as the 'beginner plants' issue and comes with a collectible set of care cards that give a condensed version of how to care for each plant, and come adorned with painted illustrations of each one."
Student: Caitlin Carter Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Communication, UCA
Emma Colyer
"Fake news has been a topical issue that has garnered a lot of press attention in the last five years. News can be overwhelming, especially for younger generations, which can make it less engaging.
"With this in mind, I designed the Reaction Spot app. An app where young adults can react and engage with news stories and other viewpoints using icons to relate to different types of fake news.
"I also designed 'Real Reaction', a limited print newspaper to go alongside the app. It runs stories around the topic of fake news and is heavily image-based with augmented reality interactions."
Student: Emma Colyer Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Design: Visual Communications, UCA
Joe Wilsden
"Wilsden's final project saw the creation of an entire brand identity for Vert, a sustainable graphic t-shirt clothing company. At the heart of the brand is a passion for ethical fashion production.
"The graphic t-shirt designs feature satirical slogans highlighting ecological issues. The project explores the story and identity of the Vert brand, its visual aesthetic and assets, products, packaging and marketing collateral."
Student: Joe Wilsden Course: BA (Hons) Graphic Communication, UCA
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and University for the Creative Arts. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here .
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Top Graphic Design Projects to Sharpen Your Skills and Build Your Graphic Design Portfolio
The graphic design industry continues to harness the creativity and innovative ideas of graphic designers . As a result, it is crucial to be equipped with the right skills to place you in high demand. Embarking on graphic design projects is an excellent way to develop top-tier skills and build a robust graphic design portfolio.
We’ve compiled various graphic design projects for designers with different experience levels that can help sharpen relevant skills. In addition, we’ve included some of the skills, techniques, and tips to revamp your portfolio and land high-paying jobs. No matter what kind of graphic design job or design team you want to work for, there are plenty of projects available to instill you with essential graphic design principles.
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5 Skills That Graphic Design Projects Can Help You Practice
If you look around you, you will see the obvious signs of a graphic designer on virtually everything. From books to packaging wraps to software interfaces, it is evident that they subtly play an essential role in our lives. The design principles and the skills utilized define their identity and are integral to our appreciation of the world of graphic design.
- Creativity: A creative mind is central to the development of great designs. While creativity can be subjective, it is the foundation of every design concept, no matter how haphazard that concept is in the beginning.
- Communication: This describes the wholesome ability to listen to a client’s needs, process feedback, and effectively communicate creative ideas. It also refers to the ability to convey a message with visual materials.
- Typography: In context, this refers to the ability to represent written text in the form of art. Every designer must know how to tell a story using various text elements like font size, style, color scheme, and layout.
- Software Skills: Learning Adobe Illustrator , InDesign, and Photoshop is essential. These tools are a basic requirement for many job postings.
- Coding: While many think coding doesn’t have a place in the design industry, having basic experience with HTML can be very useful for designers. Knowing how a website works can help you contribute to the idea generation process and give you an edge in the marketplace.
Best Graphic Design Project Ideas for Beginners
As a beginner, the first projects you complete should develop your creativity, typography, communication, and software skills. You want to make sure to build foundational graphic design skills and techniques before taking on big jobs from clients.
Photo Editing
- Skills Practiced: Software Skills, Creativity
This project exposes you to basic tools like Adobe Photoshop. Being able to manipulate an image will teach you everything from image cleanups to color schemes to enhancements. Also, you get to infuse some creativity with little projects like photo collages and storytelling.
- Skills Practiced: Creativity, Software Skills, Typography, and Communication
Logos are a representation of what a brand or organization stands for. They speak volumes about what companies do and subtly express their values. Professionals often follow the Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) approach while designing logos, focusing on minimalism and the business’ core values. This fundamental principle is suggestive of the power of simplicity in graphic design.
Business Cards
- Skills Practiced: Creativity, Software Skills, Typography, Communication
This design challenge will allow you to practice the skills mentioned above. Every business relies on business cards as a means of introduction. They are also an expression of the company’s branding. Therefore, it is vital to capture the company’s essence through excellent typography and some ingenuity.
YouTube Thumbnails
- Skills Practiced: Creativity, Software Skills, Communication
YouTube thumbnails aim is to encourage viewers to click on a video by telling a great story in just one small image. You must have an exciting thumbnail to enhance your content marketing campaign, which requires creativity and communication skills. Given how lucrative YouTube is today, being able to create the perfect thumbnail is an incredibly valuable skill.
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook Graphics
Social media is an integral part of our lives. While we browse through our feeds, we come across various posts that communicate different messages to us, but not all do so effectively. A good graphic is aesthetically pleasing and successfully conveys our messages and values. To create such designs, you can rely on existing templates that meet recommended standards.
Best Intermediate Graphic Design Project Ideas
At this level, the projects are a lot more technical. They will sharpen your graphic design skills further but require a bigger time commitment. The following is a list of projects you can take on to practice your creativity as well as your software and typography skills.
Invitation Cards
- Skills Practiced: Creativity, Software Skills, Typography
This project requires a lot of creativity. After all, an invitation card is a representation of the host’s class and taste. Creating an outstanding invitation design will test your typography and software skills. The challenge you are up to is to effectively, and aesthetically, communicate the details of the event.
Posters and Fliers
Digital posters and flyers have to be visually appealing while satisfactorily communicating a message to the public. Creating posters and fliers for public relations and marketing campaigns will expose you to scaling and proper design layouts in digital platforms.
Infographics
Infographics employ pictures, data visualizations, typography, and statistical graphics to tell a straightforward story or present information. Working on an infographic will give you experience with important tools like Canva and Venngage and allow you to exercise your creativity as you think of ways to represent information in a way that is visually attractive, impactful, and effective.
Book Covers
The cover of a book plays a key role in sales. While it is advised not to judge a book by its cover, the truth is that a book with a sloppy design won’t sell very well. It is always best to aim for a cover design that is stylish and captures the essence of the book.
Magazines and Brochures
Designing the look and feel of a magazine or brochure is a complex project. It involves a range of elements, including advertising, visual representation, photography, art, and graphic design. Working on a magazine design will expose you to the design principles and standards used in print media.
Advanced Graphic Design Project Ideas
At this level, graphic designers begin to carve a niche and specialize in a particular area. The skills required and practiced here cut across all the technical skills mentioned earlier. In addition, many advanced designers begin to venture into the world of coding, which tends to boost their designer credentials.
Graphic designers are central to good branding. They define the visual identity of a company, shaping the public perception of it with elements like logos, color schemes, fonts, and slogans. Working on a company’s brand identity is a fun project that will allow you to use your technical skills to change how an organization is perceived by the media.
Mockup Designs
Mockups give you a taste of a concept or design before it is created, helping clients visualize what the final product will look like. Creating mockups involves a fair dose of creativity as well as dexterity with software like Balsamiq, Adobe XD, or InVision.
User Interface (UI) Design
- Skills Practiced: Creativity, Software Skills, Typography, Communication, Coding
The complex field of UI design will test all the technical skills discussed thus far. You will even have to dabble in coding as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills are required to work on the customer-facing side of an application of a website. You will get a lot of fulfillment out of this project: creating an application or website interface is critical to the consumer experience with a digital product.
Product Design
Product design can be considered an extension of branding. However, rather than focusing on the logo or values of a company, the emphasis is on a particular product, its looks, sustainability, and packaging design. To go about this project, choose an existing product that’s interesting from a design standpoint. Reverse engineer this product and then redesign it following every step of the design process.
Motion Graphics
Motion graphics is animation in which text plays a major role. They are common in ads and movie titles. To work on motion graphics, advanced designers combine their basic graphic design skills with animation and filmmaking techniques.
Creating good-looking motion graphics requires exceptional creativity, innovation, and storytelling. Typography, communication, and software skills are also vital to developing interesting motion graphics.
Graphic Design Starter Project Templates
A graphic template is an excellent tool for beginners and even advanced designers that can save a lot of time. Templates allow you to edit predefined graphics and adjust them to your taste. Working with templates could also help to cure a creative block. The following are recommended templates for basic starter projects.
- Logos : These templates provided by Canva offer complete flexibility with the editing of layers, color schemes, typography, and shape to design the logo that best connects with your brand.
- Social Media Images : Social media posts have to be attractive and engaging. If you cannot come up with posters and fliers that perfectly convey your message, freepik templates can be a helpful tool.
- Mockups : If you are having difficulty designing a mockup that accurately reflects the design concepts involved, these templates by Template.net should come in handy.
- Business Cards : Designing a business card that represents your brand and business becomes a lot easier when you can simply customize a template. Check out these business card templates by PsPrint.
- Brochures : A brochure can be tricky to design considering the number of elements and skills involved. However, with these brochure templates by Envato Elements, you’ll have no trouble creating elegant brochures.
Next Steps: Start Organizing Your Graphic Design Portfolio
The beauty of constantly embarking on design projects is that you’ll sharpen your skill while growing your portfolio. After a few months, you should have a solid portfolio that reflects your skills and experience and that attracts potential clients. Below, we give you a few tips on how to organize your graphic design portfolio.
Keep It Simple
Simplicity is key when it comes to portfolios. Always go for a cleaner and straightforward portfolio look, remove distracting elements and unnecessary components. This ensures that your projects are accessible and that potential employers or clients can appreciate your creative designs.
Keep It Updated
Never stop working on your portfolio, no matter how comfortable you get in your current position. Employers and clients won’t pay attention to your portfolio if all its projects are old. You need to be constantly working on new and exciting projects and adding them to your portfolio so that it is relevant and reflects your current skills.
Keep Your Target Audience in Mind
Strive to build your portfolio with items that resonate with your target audience and leave out anything that they wouldn’t find interesting. For example, if you are applying for jobs at a web development agency, your portfolio should be composed mostly of website designs.
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Include a Brief Profile
Your portfolio should contain a brief personal description in which you introduce yourself and describe your skills and aptitudes. Include information about your level of education, work experience, and notable previous collaborations.
Never lie about your skills or previous experience or exaggerate the facts. If you get a project after having lied about your capabilities, you’ll find yourself in an uncomfortable situation when you are asked to do something that you are simply not ready to handle.
Graphic Design Projects FAQ
First, read through the brief of the project to understand the task. Conduct adequate research, come up with a creative idea, and sketch the concepts. Finally, develop your concepts thoroughly before presenting them to your client.
The number of projects you should include in your portfolio depends on several factors, including your level of experience and niche. However, we wouldn’t recommend including more than six projects.
Focus on projects that allow you to exercise your creativity and communication. You also want projects that involve typography, coding, and different software programs. Finally, consider projects that can be completed quickly or that require you to come up with inventive solutions.
No, you can work with colleagues. In fact, it is advisable to collaborate with other designers on projects because it allows you to learn from other creatives while sharing your ideas.
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350+ Passion Project Ideas for the Uninspired but Creative Soul
March 27, 2021
In a recent post, I talked about all the great, life-changing reasons you should have a creative passion project . Since sharing the post, I've even heard back from people who shared their own passion project ideas with me, and it's been nothing short of amazing.
But I also got a few messages from people who asked me this:
I really want to start a passion project! But I don't know what.
While most of us already know what sort of side projects we want to have, I realized that's not the case for everyone.
So whether you're someone who doesn't know what kind of passion project they want to start or even if you're someone with only an inkling of an idea, here's a mix-and-match list of cool passion project ideas just for you.
Ways You Can Start a Passion Project
Here I name some of the most popular ways people have shared or started their own passion projects. You can even call them "platforms" or "mediums," if you prefer.
In the section after this, you'll find an endless supply of topics or niches in case you need some aha! moment to start.
And later, we'll see how these platforms and topics can mesh together into your brand new, super personal, go-start-one-right-now passion project.
Start a Blog.
At the top of the passion project ideas list is starting a blog. I'm willing to bet my own blog that you know someone ( other than me ) that's started a blog of their own. Be it on Blogspot/Blogger, WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace, there's a platform that hosts thousands of people's personal blogs, portfolios, and websites. Hint: you don't have to be a writer to be a blogger, so you can start a blog even if you hate writing.
Open a YouTube or Vimeo Channel.
Let's be real: at some point in all our lives, we all wanted to be YouTubers and be part of the cool community that started the YouTube we knew back in 2009. But I also find that many of my video-savvy storytelling friends go on Vimeo, especially to upload their more artistic works, like short films or animations.
Launch a Podcast.
You won't believe how much I actually love podcasts (I actually want to start one just because I can never stop talking about certain things). Having a podcast is almost just like a YouTube channel, except all the focus is on sound. Imagine it as your own radio show.
Put Up an Online or Physical Store.
You can have a passion project that's just all about selling stuff. There are a load of apps and websites that make this really easy to do. For example, I personally used Carousell for a long time to sell preloved and brand new clothes, shoes, and bags I don't use. (I even made about PHP10,000 in a handful of months, no marketing or sales funnels involved!)
While I'm not on Carousell anymore, I highly recommend trying Cococart —a free online ecommerce store builder that'll get you launched in minutes. Check out how easy their setup is:
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Step-by-step guide to a successful product pre-sell, start a facebook page or facebook group community. .
Maybe you want to start a Facebook page that curates and creates content every so often (you don't always need to sell a product or service to be an online brand). And Facebook groups make a great community-building platform, and I've joined a handful of groups where I meet a lot of likeminded people.
Hold a Workshop.
Your passion project can even holding a series of workshops about things you're good at. After all, there's always going to be someone who's willing to learn new skills – skills you already know. And these don't always have to be crafty or artsy. I sometimes hold workshops for college student leaders on organization and project management.
Launch an Online Course.
Okay, your workshops honestly don't even need to be in-person anymore because there's technology for that. You can start an online course right from your Google Account (yes, there's Google Classrooms, ICYMI) and companies like Thinkific, Teachable, and Udemy have built websites to host your courses.
I launched my online course, The Productive, Purposeful Creator , to help creators unlock a more productive workflow while consistently growing their audience. It's been one of my favorite passion project ideas to date!
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Write a Book or eBook.
You can even write a book as a passion project. If you don't want to spend too much on physical copies, you can always turn your writing into an eBook and publish it online instead.
Start a Gallery or Online Portfolio.
One of my friends Max recently started an Instagram account for her super-cute drawings. You can even share your works in a real-life gallery.
Create a New Product.
It doesn't seem fair to make a passion project ideas list without including this. Whether a new product is something you want to create to solve a problem that you have or if it's something you want to eventually sell, this is definitely one of the more interesting creative passion project ideas out there.
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Passion Project Ideas: List of Topics
Admittedly, there are infinite possibilities for this section, and they all depend on things you're interested in. I list down some of the most popular umbrella topics as well as subcategories in each one. I do try to be as exhaustive as possible, and you're definitely not limited to picking just one of these topics!
After all, these are just passion project ideas to jump off from, and your passion project is yours, so do whatever you like with them.
This is a common topic a lot of people start especially a blog on. Some people even share this topic through a micro-blog on Instagram. What's the city you live in like and how do you live your life inside it? This topic can even give birth to even more passion project ideas.
Restaurant reviews, recipes, or just plain pictures of good food. Food for people, for dogs, for cats – go wild.
Places to go, sights to see... Where to stay, what to look for... Any secret hacks for backpackers or people on a budget?
Health and Fitness.
Workouts, meal plans, diet tips, weight loss tips... If this is your thing, there's a whole bunch of people who'd love to hear what you have to say.
Beauty and Makeup.
Beauty junkies, it's your time to shine. Do you have holy grail product reviews for fellow beauty fans? Love talking about more wallet-friendly products? Or maybe you're more into organic or natural alternatives?
Fashion and Hair.
Your thing might be all your different OOTDs. Or you could be more of the guilt-free fashionista that has a message about sustainable fashion. You could be super good at doing different hairstyles and want to share how-tos for the perpetually lost (like me).
Room/Home Improvements.
My sister and I had this very short phase where we watched nothing but home improvement shows on TV. You might have ideas on how to make a room super pretty, or super minimalist, or even just super different and personal.
Do-It-Yourself (DIY).
Lots of people will look for DIY alternatives to most everyday stuff because they're either more affordable than buying from a store or because they're into doing things with their hands. Maybe you know DIY tips and tricks for clothes, accessories, or room/home decor ? There's no shortage for the kind of do-it-yourself tutorials you can share.
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While I'm not a parent (yet), I've seen – and met! – a ton of mommy bloggers. Parenting may seem like an overused niche, but really, there's always going to be someone who needs your cannot-live-without parenting hacks.
Self-Care or Personal Development.
One of my favorite movements that have come to light recently is the mental health awareness movement. If you're a advocate for self-care or bettering oneself, by all means, make a passion project all about it.
I don't think this topic is only reserved for career coaches. You might have tips and tricks for people about to graduate from college. Or you might know how to help people get more from their work. Or maybe you're even all about work-life balance.
Money management, savings goals, budgeting – there are people out there that need your sage wisdom.
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Side hustle or startups..
This deserves to be its own niche because of literally how many startups we've seen emerging in just a few years. You might know a lot about starting a small business, or you might have freelance career that you want to help other people reach too.
From products to reviews to how-tos – even to answering all these different tech-related questions (I can't count the number of times I Googled issues I had with my computer) – there's a whole bunch of things you can dive right into. I mean, there are thousands of gadgets and gizmos all over the planet, and thousands more ways to do a tech-related passion project.
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My older brother, my boyfriend, and a lot of their friends are all gamers, so honestly, I don't see why you can't have a passion project related to gaming. One of my friends even has a YouTube channel with walkthroughs on some popular video games that he's monetized in the past.
For most people, a creative passion project might automatically mean art-related projects. And because most of these things are pretty straightforward, I'll be jotting down a quick list of different mediums just for your inspiration.
"Do I already have to be an experienced artist for these?" you ask. My answer: not at all! You can always start an art-related passion project without any experience. After all, you do need to start somewhere.
Illustrations.
Lettering and Calligraphy.
Photography.
Videography.
Creative Writing.
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Performing arts.
Spoken Word Poetry.
You might have a knack or interest in crochet, knitting, or quilting. And those would make awesome (and pretty!) passion projects in themselves.
Papercraft.
Think origami or paper mâché!
As someone who loves DIY, I can tell you there's no shortage here. There are DIY bags, plushies, leather goods, soap, candles – too, too many to name!
Scrapbooking.
Start recording your travels or family life or even lookbooks!
Creative Journaling.
Some people would refer to it as bullet journaling, but I find that creative journaling is a more appropriate term for having those gorgeous hand-drawn layouts and lists inspired by the original bullet journal.
Jewelry-Making.
And this doesn't only mean the plastic-bead jewelry we used to make when we were kids, either.
Perfect for anyone who's not afraid of getting their hands a little dirty. Handmade pottery is also super pretty to have in your home!
Okay, maybe I got the idea for this off a girl scouts activity, but carving stuff out of wood seems pretty cool if you're into that kind of thing.
Model Building.
My guy friends are obsessed with model kits from Japan. But this isn't only about gunpla – there are also model kits for ships, buildings, and lots more.
Miscellaneous
Social good/advocacy. .
You might stand for something real important to you, like living like a minimalist or being kind to the environment. If so, there's all the more reason to have a passion project around it – so you can share in the advocacy.
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Putting Them Together
So you've got all these ways to start passion projects and you've got all these topics or niches for passion project ideas. Now the only thing you have to do now is to put them together – and voila! You've got yourself a passion project.
Here are a few example of ways you can mix and match your options, plus how these options can be narrowed down into something more bite-sized (meaning, less overwhelming!).
Write an eBook + DIY room decorations that busy people can do in an hour or less. You can even publish the book and make money on the side.
Start a Blog + Tech: affordable alternatives for everyday electronics for people on a budget. You help other people save on gadgets and appliances but still letting them a bang for their buck. You might even partner with actual brands in the future.
Hold a Workshop + Photography for aspiring food bloggers. You could teach people how to take better photos for their blogs and articles if they want to get more clicks and views on their site.
Open a YouTube Channel + Advocacy on how to live with less waste even if you live in the big city. You'll help people be more responsible by realizing there are simple everyday ways anyone can adopt to reduce plastic consumption or paper and food waste.
And these are only a handful of examples among all the countless possibilities! If you don't have a passion project already, I challenge you to use this mix-and-match list to start your own.
Important: Start a passion project that you want to do, not what think others would find cool.
If it doesn't make you more passionate, you won't commit.
How can I use this guide to come up with my passion project?
To make the mix-and-match process easier for you, I came up with a worksheet version of this passion project ideas guide! You can get it here.
Once you've downloaded it, be sure to print it out and really devote 5 minutes – just five minutes! – of your time to accomplishing it, so that you can find the perfect passion project to give you more meaning and purpose every day.
Ready to go big on your passion project?
Grab your copy of The Goal-Getter Playbook today, so you ideate, plan, and launch that passion project you've always wanted.
Learn more about The Goal-Getter Playbook and how how to get your own copy here.
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ABOUT Mica Gonzalez
Mica (hey, that's me!) provides resources for content creators and creative entrepreneurs to design their days with more purpose, impact, and creativity.
Her workshops, courses, and programs are all designed with her commitment to slow growth, anti-hustle culture, and success on our own terms.
When she's not referring to herself in the third person on her blog, she's sharing cool things she's into and up to on Instagram @micaangelicagonz .
Let's connect here:
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Full of guided prompts to help you clarify, define, and track your goals – plus undated pages that are reusable year after year – you won't need another planner ever again.
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51 Passion Project Ideas & Examples List for 2023
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Last Updated on March 2, 2023 by Glori Surban
Are you feeling stuck? Like you're treading in water, flapping around but not really going anywhere? If so, you're not alone.
Many people can feel frustrated, stuck, and ultimately unfulfilled when they get trapped in a basic work-life routine. One great way to free yourself from that basic routine of go to work/go home/ go to sleep/start over is by taking on a passion project.
In this article, we will explore the concept of passion projects and then you will discover 35 ideas to help you get started .
But first, let’s begin with a simple definition.
Table of Contents
What Are Passion Projects?
Passion projects are projects that inspire you; projects that push you to explore your inner creativity and personality.
It is important to note that passion projects aren't hobbies nor should they be approached as some type of side income. Do not look for a passion project to free you from your current work set-up because the moment you transition a passion project from being fun and pursued solely for your own enjoyment in it is the moment many find that their passion in it will die.
Instead, passion projects are projects that people should get into solely because they love how it makes them feel and how it inspires them to tap into something bigger inside themselves.
Need some help finding a type of passion project for you to pursue?
Consider the following guide of 51 fantastic passion project ideas….
51 Passion Project Ideas to Pursue
Creative writing passion projects.
1. Start Writing Short Stories or Fan Fiction. You don't have to be a published author to get enjoyment out of creative writing. Writing short stories about characters you love, such as fan fiction , is a great way to get your creative juices going.
Plus, this type of writing has a great online community in which you can get involved in. If you ever find yourself drawn to write that great American novel, your practice in smaller works will give you critical experience, insight, and inspiration.
2. Become a Reviewer for Something You Love. Do you love visiting local restaurants? Getting your dogs cute toys and custom treats? Or do you have children with whom you want to experience more of your city? Whatever the case, combine that which you already do (eating, shopping, traveling) and start reviewing.
Create an online blog to share with others or make a personal journal or scrapbook. You can also do both, keep your private thoughts somewhere but also share via an online review site like Yelp.
3. Learn Calligraphy and Make Every Future Card and Present Personal. This is a small creative writing passion project, but a project nonetheless. Calligraphy is a gorgeous written art form and a great side project for those who love writing and gift-giving.
4. Engage in Letter-Writing Campaigns. If you love writing but wish you could do something more meaningful with it, consider engaging in letter-writing campaigns. No matter what you are interested in or passionate about, letter-writing campaigns are an effective grassroots type of advocacy that can be highly effective. This type of passion project is great for fueling frustration you might have about big issues that would otherwise seem too big to tackle.
5. Create Your Own Zine. While zines are mostly connected with '90s and '00s youth culture, they are still popular, and they can be created by anyone of any age. Your zine can be about anything you like.
You can do a DIY zine about how to fish and cook those fish you catch, you can do a travel zine featuring your favorite places to travel, you can vent and use your zine as a place to talk about the craziness of your workplace. The world is your oyster. When you're done, keep it as your own personal book or send them out.
In Your Backyard Passion Projects
6. Redesign Your Landscape. Landscape design is a fun and creative venture that has the big benefit of leaving you with a gorgeous and possibly more functional backyard once you're done with it. But don't just jump into tearing up your grass. See this as a project to become well-versed in landscape design.
Take an in-person course on gardening at your local garden shop, read books about landscape design, volunteer with relevant groups to hone your skills, and really get an idea of how best to redesign your backyard landscape.
7. Attract Bees, Birds, and Butterflies. It's no secret that pollinators are in trouble. Consider taking on a passion project to invite bees, birds, and butterflies both to your backyard and your neighborhood. This type of project will often merge with the above landscape redesign project as you look to create homes and spaces for such animals to live and thrive in.
8. Start a Community Garden. Don't have a lot of space in your own backyard for plants and butterfly features? Why not share your interest and passion of gardening with others by starting a community garden ?
A cooperative garden is a great passion project for those who are outgoing and want more personal connections with their neighbors. That's because community gardens have a way of becoming multi-purposeful places in which people naturally congregate for events big and small.
9. Train a Pup for Competition. Agility courses, nose work, diving dogs — all of these are great areas of competition in which to train a dog. Taking on a puppy, whether you choose a rescue or go to a breeder, and training them to excel in some type of competition will come with its risks (you have to find or hope for the right personality) but this type of long-term human-animal partnership is a fantastic passion project.
When you really build up that relationship with your furry pal, you'll find that there really is nothing like the bond between a man and man's best friend. Plus, going to competitions is a great way to meet new people and new places. Live in the city and think you're limited? Check out ratting in NYC (disclaimer, not for the squeamish).
10. Hold Workshops. If you have an activity you already love, then what about taking on as a passion project a mission to share that activity? Hosting a series of workshops in your own backyard or at some other venue is a great way to really unleash that creativity, get connected with other people, and even learn something about yourself. After all, they say the best way to learn something is to teach it.
11. Raise Your Own Food. And we're not just talking about a basic garden here. Check your local ordinances and see what they allow in terms of other types of food raising. Can you have chickens so as to have your own eggs? What about raising rabbits or ducks as an alternative source of meat?
Raising your own food is a hard but very rewarding passion project as better understanding where one's food comes from and what it takes to get it from farm to plate will go a long way in making one more empathetic and ecologically-conscious.
Health and Wellness Passion Projects
12. Train for a Marathon. Running marathons has become exceptionally popular in recent years thanks to it being such a low-cost activity that is available to anyone, anywhere. All you need is a good pair of running shoes to get started.
Training for a marathon is a great health passion project as it encourages one to work on their overall endurance and to get outside exercise every week. Then, at the end, you'll be rewarded with that big marathon run.
13. Launch a Fitness or Nutrition YouTube. Two of the biggest sub-niches on YouTube are exercise and nutrition videos. While yes, this means there are a lot of videos already out there, it also means there are a lot of people eager to see new and alternative takes on the best fitness and nutrition recommendations.
If you enjoy giving advice or you think you have a killer routine, then why not share it with the world via YouTube? You can also start by following already successful influencers and making yourself the first paradigm of health and wellness.
14. Become a Fitness Instructor, Such as a Yoga Instructor. While yes, you do have to be reasonably fit to be a yoga instructor, you can become an instructor with relative ease so long as you dedicate yourself to it.
Check online for local classes and yoga studios that offer teacher training you can do in your off-hours. Train and get your certification and then share that passion and experience with others.
15. Train and Take on a Long-Distance Hike. Hate running but love the outdoors? What about training for a world-class long-distance hike? Hiking one of these ultimate scenic trails is a fantastic passion project to take on — and it certainly is a project.
You will need to work up your endurance on hikes and do experiments on short hikes to make sure you know how much you're willing and capable to carry for an enjoyable camping experience. This all takes time, but time well spent as you work towards your dream hiking adventure.
16. Plan an Overnight Boating Adventure. Another alternative is to get into boating, which has the big advantage over hiking of having the water vehicle carry all your gear instead of your back. Plus, there are so many different types of boats to look at as you consider where you want your passion project to take you.
Kayaks and canoes are fantastic boats for rivers and lakes and there are a great number of outfitters that can get you started with overnight boating adventures for just a small fee. You might also look at sailboats and sailing around local bays and similar waterways.
Crafting Passion Projects
17. Take Up Knitting or Crocheting. Knitting and similar needlework crafts are seeing a resurgence in popularity by people of all ages thanks to its usefulness and versatility. When you know how to knit, you can knit anywhere. Waiting for jury duty, relaxing while your partner watches their favorite television show, and when meeting up with friends at a barbecue.
It's a craft that keeps your hands busy but still gives you the presence of mind to converse and talk with others. Best of all, you have something at the end of it to show off. Watch some tutorials, grab some yarn, and join a Stitch N' Bitch group to get started.
18. Take Actual Craft Courses Like Pottery Classes. Ceramic pottery is a timeless art form and another great craft that gives you something really useful at the end of it. This, however, isn't a passion project you typically can start on your own because of the expensive equipment involved. So check your local community colleges and art groups to join a pottery class and get started.
19. Refurbish Old and Vintage Furniture. If you have a good aesthetic eye, are handy with tools, and have the right equipment, then maybe a good passion project is taking old furniture and either refurbishing it or transforming it into something new.
This is a great passion project to fill out your home and is one of the rare examples of a passion project that can turn a nice penny if you are gifted enough.
20. Upcycle Old Clothes. Furniture isn't the only thing that often goes out of date and out of care. If you're handing with a sewing machine or have always wanted to become handy with a sewing machine, then consider a passion project revolving around upcycling old and thrift store-bought clothes.
21. Take Up Painting or Become a Model for Others. There are so, so, so many fantastic resources for those who want to get started painting. And painting is one of those passion projects that you can take anywhere and do anything with. For example, you might prioritize painting all of the clock towers in your state and then making your own little book about it. That's a fantastic goal to have as part of a painting passion project.
22. Take Up a Big Woodworking Project. Woodworking is a fantastic niche in which to develop your own passion project goals. For example, consider aiming to build your own tiny sailboat or canoe within two years or so. To get started, you will first have to learn how to use and be comfortable with all manner of tools and slowly, but surely build up your skill levels.
More Cerebral Passion Projects.
23. Commit to Reading X Books a Week or Month and Review/Post/Share Them. Reading is another act in which the more you do it, the more empathetic you can become, thereby making you into a better person. The problem is that too many people get too distracted in today's ever-hectic world.
Making reading your passion project by setting out strict reading goals and then choosing some manner in which to share that which you've read. Such as with a book review newsletter, podcast, or blog. You might even start a book club to encourage others to get on the same page.
24. Take on a Research Project and Follow Through with Something Like Writing a Biography or Historical Book. You don't have to be an academic, published author, or working historian, sociologist, or economist to take on a research project. If there is something that interests you — a person, a historic place, or even a societal event or question — tackle it.
Make your interest the subject of a research project for which you gather information. Go to your local library, interview subjects, visit places. Gather as much information as you can and then create a podcast, film, or book in which you explain your findings and interpretation of the results.
25. Tackle a Scientific Quandary. Just because you failed physics in high school doesn't mean you have to give up on it altogether. The best passion projects are those in which you challenge yourself to overcome your previous limitations. Check out this list of fantastic educational channels and consider what scientific avenues you wish you knew more about, then go follow that passion.
26. Put Together Your Ancestry. Did you really have fun putting together your family tree in grade school? Consider then making putting together a fully fleshed-out family history. 23andMe and similar sites are great resources for getting you more information about your ancestors and the events that transpired to bring you where you are today.
27. Learn How to Code and Then Build Something via Code. Coding is a fantastic skill and one that really encourages problem-solving and creative thinking. But perhaps best of all, once you know how to code, then you can create. You can create your own app, game, or other item as part of a master passion project.
28. Learn a Secondary Language and Make it a Mission to Volunteer or Visit the Country Where That Language is Spoken. If you love traveling, then this type of passion project is one that will fulfill personal and societal goals. Learning a new language can be challenging but it offers opportunities to engage with new people in new ways.
If you choose to go for a new language, we recommend making the overall passion project a more physical goal, like going to that language's country of origin and volunteering or traveling in order to make real use out of your education.
Other Great Passion Projects
29. Join a Birding Group and Go for a Big Year. Birding is a great hobby that takes one out into nature to see wildlife in its natural environment. But birding is an activity that can be so much more than just a hobby. Check out the film The Big Year and, if it piques your interest, consider undergoing your own “big year” as a passion project.
30. Organize Bicycle Rides in Your Neighborhood. Riding bikes is one of the greatest activities one can do. You get exercise, efficient means of travel, and easy ability to talk while traveling. If you love riding bikes, then consider taking that passion to the next level by committing yourself to share that passion via group bike rides.
31. Look for Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint. If you wish you were more environmentally-friendly, then make reducing your carbon footprint via things like nixing plastic bags as your passion project.
32. Grab Your Friends, Family, or Just Yourself and Make a Film. A documentary about your shared hobby or a funny film sketch about that last time you went on vacation. When you make a film, the important thing is thinking about what you loved most about activity and finding the right way to share that with others.
33. Run for a Local Office. This one will require you to get pretty involved, but if you're tired of watching how your city or neighborhood operates, then take a more involved stance. Run for public office and help make those changes you so desire.
34. Start a Nonprofit. Not all changes can be done politically. If you see a need in your community that can be best done via service, volunteer hours, or donations, then consider starting a nonprofit and working towards making those changes happen.
35. Make Finding a Passion Project, Your Passion Project. Still not inspired? Then how about creating a podcast series about you trying to find that passion project. Experiment with different hobbies, talk to other people about what makes them the happiest, and investigate your own skills to see what project would best suit you.
Community Passion Projects
36. Charity Drives . Get involved in charity drives. Collect broken and old toys, wash them, fix where you can, and donate to local child shelters. Repair old clothes for the homeless, or travel with a couple of personal care packages in your car to give to homeless people to help improve their personal hygiene.
A charity drive doesn’t always have to be big or a lot of money. Every action matters, if you are passionate about it.
37. Recycling Projects . One of the most worthy passion projects you can participate in is recycling. Help spread awareness about which consumer materials we can recycle and how. Organize collection points, and feel part of a community as you all help each other care for the environment.
The money raised from taking these materials to recycling plants can be donated to local charities or organizations.
38. Upcycle Metal Trash for Outdoor Decor at a Local Park. If you have an artistic side, why not collect metal trash such as old cutlery, tin cans, motor parts, and more to create unique art sculptures and benches at a local park?
You may need to request permission from your local town council to install these, and you’d have to ensure the finished project is safe for people to touch and sit on. What fun to see your creations amuse and entertain park visitors.
39. Donate Gym Equipment to a Local Park. Many of us have loads of small hand weights, training aids, and stationary cycling bikes at home that we no longer use. Yet, there are many bored youths who frequent parks, who would love to get fit, work out, and not have to pay for an expensive gym membership.
Work with the local city council to install gym equipment under covered areas at parks for local people to enjoy free of charge.
40. Teach a Child New Skills. Do you have a special skill? Perhaps you can ride horses, play the violin, or mountain climb? You can share these skills with local children, helping them learn new skills and developing their sense of self.
Your passion can become a child's or even a young adult’s passion.
Supportive Passion Projects
41. Hug a Granny . Thousands of elderly citizens live out their last days in care facilities where they never see their children or feel loved. If you have a free day in the week or over a weekend, why not visit your local retirement village or frail care facility to spend some time with all the elderly people?
Hug them, take them something sweet, or simply spend a few minutes talking with them.
Listen as they reminisce and let them feel loved. If you can, make this a regular routine so they have something to look forward to. You will feel the blessings of caring for those who most need it.
42. Fund a Dream . Facebook has a go-fund initiative where people can ask for help to fund some project such as emergency surgery for their child or a honeymoon. Choose a worthy cause and help fund that dream.
Perhaps you know of someone who desperately needs a helping hand and a few dollars. Help them by launching a go-fund project for them.
43. Mentor a Child . Many children don’t have the benefit of a great role model, and you don’t have to be a celebrity or someone of social stature to be a mentor to a child. Children are growing up in broken homes with parents who divorce and may then remarry with partners who don’t want these children.
Having a caring adult who will look out for them and listen and give life advice when appropriate is something that could make a world of difference to a child’s world. Perhaps you can step up and create a mentor group to support children in need.
44. Talk to Me. One of the best signs I saw was a couple of mature gentlemen sitting in a coffee shop with a sign: “Talk to me.” These sprightly pensioners were making themselves available to be sounding boards to people who need a kind ear.
Senior citizens have a lot of life wisdom to share, but sadly, many younger generation people don’t have the benefit of having their grandparents around to talk to or ask for advice. After having a cuppa coffee with these very wise men, I felt a ton better, and I had some ideas on how to sort stuff out.
Maybe you can be that willing ear to people in your community?
45. Share Love Notes . Singer Dermot Kennedy’s song Something to Someone features snippets of him leaving wisdom and love notes all over the city. Why not make it your passion to leave notes for others to discover around your neighborhood?
You could leave words of encouragement in library books, on the train, or tack up at the bus stop. We are so surrounded by negativity, and people will appreciate words of care and kindness placed at random places for them to find and draw cheer from.
Legacy Passion Projects
46. Create a Family Book. My mom keeps a book of all her poetry, thoughts, and experiences. I guess you could call it a journal, but she also records what she remembers of family members who are now long gone. I never knew my grandmother on mom’s side of the family, so all I do know I have learned from mom’s family book.
What could you record about your family, and how can you share it in an interesting way? With new media such as TikTok, you could even share videos and photos of loved ones, leaving the links in your family book. Perhaps your family book can take the form of a Facebook page?
47. Invent Something to Solve a Problem. Are you an inventor? Do you see a problem and think “Man, I know how to solve that”? Take up the passion project idea of solving problems with easy and convenient inventions. From making unique gadgets to neatening up your office or recycling and upcycling projects, to designing a solution or invention from scratch, you can be an inventor in unusual ways.
What you will need is a curious life outlook, a practical mindset, and some ingenuity. It’s fun, and you may end up with a real winner too.
48. Make a Family Calendar. If you have a large family, why not tackle the project of making a family calendar? You can use family gatherings and pick themes for everyone to dress up accordingly.
Take some great and unusual family photos, or set up scenarios such as “murder scenes,” “your grandfather being sworn in as president of your family,” and “comic carnivals.” The only limit is your imagination, and your family will each appreciate a copy of the calendar in their Xmas stockings.
49. Create a Sponsorship. If you don’t have children of your own, why not consider creating a sponsorship programme to help a local child in need achieve their dream of attending college one day or traveling the world to participate in a worthy student’s challenge?
Your money would go to a worthy cause, and you can make a real and lasting difference to the lives of several students, leaving a legacy you can be proud of.
50. Learn to Make Music. We aren’t all musicians, and many of us never have the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument. Why not invest in some music lessons to first decide what musical instrument would suit your needs, and then go all out and make this instrument your passion.
Perhaps you can learn to play the violin, drums, cello, electric guitar, or saxophone and find a way to turn your passion into a beautiful noise.
51. Self-Govern Your Area. This passion project isn’t about joining the local legislation. You’re not going to run for an office or try to make laws. Instead, step up and help out where your local city council may be falling short on their tasks.
Perhaps you can step up and fill in that pothole that’s been nagging you when you drive every morning, or you could go paint the faded park swings that look so dreary. Start noticing where you can help out in small ways.
It’s always best to approach your local council and get a letter of permission for any work you’d like to volunteer to do in your community. With roadworks, it may be necessary to get safety equipment and get permission to close off sections of the road.
Final Thoughts on Passion Project ideas
As you can see, there are so many fantastic activities and events that you can take on as a passion project. The big thing to keep in mind that where hobbies are often small activities, a passion project should have an ultimate goal; a big event or a way in which you share your knowledge with others.
If you have some other great passion project ideas other than the ones we have listed, please share them in the comments!
Finally, if you want to develop a skill-based passion project, then check out this article on 101 skills you can learn in your free time .
- Graphic Design
8 Graphic Design Projects Every Beginner Should Know About
Table of Content
Understanding different types of graphic design projects for beginners.
- The Wide Scope of Graphic Designing
Logo Design
- Brochures / Flyers
- YouTube Graphical Ads
- Infographics
- Business Cards
- Best Graphic Design Projects for a High School Student
- Importance of Graphic Designing Projects for Portfolio Building
Frequently Asked Questions
Final words.
The importance of graphic design projects in building a portfolio doesn’t need any kind of explanation. It is the primary thing that helps you to attract clients’ attention and bring uniqueness in your branding. Today, every company emphasizes heavily on creative graphic designs. They know its importance in the business representation, especially for those that are associated with the fashion industry.
Considering the high demand, many beginners want to move towards this field in a bid to make their careers successful. But unfortunately, only a few of them tend to achieve top names in it. The reason is that most of these people do not learn the art of graphic designing completely. Some people just tend to focus on logo designing, whereas some only think about web and UI designing.
Now, all of us know that the industry of graphic and web designing is evolving quite rapidly. It has now become crucial for us to keep our skills updated according to the latest market standards. Today, it is just not enough to learn one part of graphic designing. Instead, we have to evolve ourselves on multiple domains, so that we can grab the emerging opportunities quickly.
If you are also a beginner in graphic designing and want to learn a pathway to become professional, this article is precisely written for you. It will let you know about some specific graphic design project that can optimize your learning potential. Let’s first understand how big the scope of graphic designing is in the world.
Logopoppin is a graphic design agency that specializes in logo designing, web development, video production and advanced branding services. We love to innovate businesses with new age technologies, allowing them to improve their visual reputation.
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Subscribe for weekly updates, 1. the wide scope of graphic designing.
Graphic designing is a very broad term including multiple types of jobs depending on the requirements. Earlier, people only knew about this field with a tag of logo or banner designing. But, in the last couple of decades, things have changed greatly.
Today, many companies are offering graphic design services using a variety of tools and softwares. All of them are created to cater different types of functions. They have allowed graphic designers to work seamlessly without having any technical glitch. All they need to do is to just utilize their creativity to craft stunning designs that can grab eyeballs quickly.
The scope of graphic designing has tremendously evolved in the last few years. The emergence of UI and web designing has also paved a way for graphic designers to find work easily. That is the reason why every youngster knows about the importance of graphic designing, and hence want to make a career in it.
With the rise of freelancing, the demand for skilled graphic designers is also increasing in the world. Many businesses are frequently hiring freelance designers to handle their tons of projects. This shows how vast the scope of graphic designing has evolved in the world, encouraging every youngster to get attracted towards it.
2. Types of Graphic Design Projects for Beginners
Many youngsters are opting to become a graphic designer rightly due to its demand in the market. But many of them often face problems in becoming a top professional. There are many reasons involved in that, but the one most important among all is the lack of work knowledge.
It is therefore recommended to optimize your graphic designing learning according to the latest standards. You need to make sure that your skills are updated as per the emerging trends. It will allow you to work on any type of project regardless of difficulties in design and complexity.
To become a seasoned designer, you need to work on different types of graphic design projects. It will enhance your learning as well as enable you to get clients’ attention. Here are some of those areas where you should regularly avail graphic design projects.
2.1 Logo Design
Every business knows about the importance of logo design. It is the primary source of their brand representation, allowing them to demonstrate a strong identity in the market. It is the major reason why every business wants to design a unique logo. They know how these logos encourage people to take interest in the products, as well as get converted towards it.
Considering the high demand of different types of logos , it has become a top freelancing source for many graphic designers. There are many marketplaces working on the internet where tons of graphic design projects related to logos are available for freelancers.
If you are looking to start your career as a graphic designer, tryout these logo projects. It will help you to know about the intrinsic details of logo designing, as how it should be completed starting from the scratch. You can learn how to design logos relating to different categories, increasing your own knowledge in the field.
2.2 UI Design
Just like logo designing, there are also dozens of freelancing opportunities available in UI/UX designing . That is also one of those hot jobs that could help you to get connected with hundreds of clients. But, to do so, you need to have a sound knowledge of the cores of UI designing.
This process and method of UI design is totally different from the other graphic designing activities. It requires you to bring creativity in the website frontend that can attract the incoming traffic.
You can learn UI designing from tons of tutorials and other resources available on the internet. Many experts recommend YouTube as the best source to learn UI designing. It houses hundreds of tutorials aimed towards helping beginners to learn the art of UI designing.
2.3 Brochures / Flyers
Every marketer knows the importance of branding materials. They are primarily responsible to market any business strongly in the industry. It is the main reason why businesses always look for such designers who are well versed in creating quality branding elements such as brochures.
The usage of brochures comes really handy in tradeshows and other marketing events. Generally, companies distribute these brochures in those events to attract people’s attention. Therefore, they always want to get connected with those designers that can help them to create stunning brochure designs .
Being a freelancer, you can take these graphic design projects to enhance your professional portfolio. They are a bit different as compared to conventional banner designing. These brochures are designed with a mixed combination of content and graphical elements. As a designer, you need to learn principles of design and how to keep the balance between both, so that your brochure design can look great.
Icons are also termed very important for designing banners, logos, website content and more others. They are often designers with a custom style in order to assist any relevant design. This requires skilled expertise from a professional designer who knows how to create a font according to the design.
Today, you can find different types of freelancing opportunities available for creating masculine fonts . If you don’t have much idea about how to create them, take a look at the examples given on the internet. It will allow you to design creative fonts, precisely according to the modern standards.
2.5 YouTube Graphical Ads
YouTube is undoubtedly the biggest online streaming platform in the world. It houses millions of videos relating from different categories. People from around the globe regularly visit YouTube to watch different types of videos . That is why its traffic just keeps on increasing with each passing day, making it the most popular video streaming global platform.
Considering this popularity, many marketers have started to target YouTube as a channel to attract clients. To do that, they need the services of a talented designer who can create engaging artwork for YouTube ads. This is a very high paid job that allows you to get connected with some of the top companies in the market.
You can create engaging videos and designs according to the brand requirements. This will be a great addition to your graphic design projects, giving your overall portfolio a stunning boost.
2.6 Infographics
Infographics are also becoming popular in the market due to their easy way of explaining things. They are used precisely to create designs that can help people to understand things quickly. But, the development of these infographics is not a straightforward process. It requires tactical knowledge on how to place different things in a single design, so that people can take a look at them all quickly.
You can find different types of infographics used by the marketers today. Most of them are built in a listicle manner, allowing people to notice various things quickly. As a designer, it brings a nice opportunity for you to enhance your graphic design projects portfolio by designing interactive infographics.
The good thing is that you can find many premade templates for designing infographics. Some of the websites like Freepik, Envato and more others are termed very good in this regard. These marketplaces will help you to find unique infographics templates, so that you can customize them easily with the relevant elements.
2.7 Banners
Banners are also an important branding material due to their vast usage in marketing activities. They are used to grab people’ attention, rightly by displaying the best discount offers and product deals. You can find dozens of banner designing projects on marketplaces like Fiverr, Freelancer and more easily. Most of them are high paid, allowing you to build a strong graphic design projects portfolio.
All you need to do is to just enhance your skills on graphic design softwares like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and more others. These tools are termed pretty handy to learn the basic art of graphic designing.
If you don’t have good knowledge about their usage, take a look at the detailed tutorials given on the internet. They are precisely made for absolute beginners, so that they can learn the basics of graphics designing. Once you have the required knowledge of graphics, then you can easily take different types of graphic design projects. The demand of banner designing is pretty much more in the market, hence you can build a strong portfolio by getting its projects.
2.8 Business Cards
Every business knows the importance of business cards. It is termed as the most important branding material that allows people to know about your point of contact. That is the biggest reason why companies heavily emphasize designing these business cards with flawless perfection. They know that business cards showcase their identity and build a reputation for their business.
For freelance designers, it is best recommended to find those graphic design projects that are related to business cards designing. You can easily find these projects on sites like Upwork, Toptal and more others. All you need to do is to just build a strong profile on these marketplaces. People who are looking to hire skilled freelancers will quickly come to your profile and contact you upon finding the relevant work experience.
3. Best Graphic Design Projects for a High School Student
Being a high school student, you need to first find those graphic design projects that are easy to handle. This includes projects like logo designing, business cards designing and more others. Though it will be a bit hard to find some projects if you have no experience. But, if you will show the required expertise, then you can get some valuable graphic design projects.
It is also recommended to build some connections in the market to get quality designing projects. Once you will to do that, you can get long term projects allowing your portfolio to grow strongly.
4. Importance of Graphic Designing Projects for Portfolio Building
1. what kind of projects do graphic designers do.
Graphic designers are responsible for handling different types of projects. It can include a variety of tasks depending upon the requirements of clients such as logo designing, banner designing and more others.
2. How to find graphic design projects?
There are multiple online platforms where you can find dozens of graphic design projects. You can find it through social media sites or from online marketplaces such as Fiverr, Freelancer and more others.
3. Why do graphic designers always stay in demand?
The demand for graphic designers is quickly increasing in the market. The reason is that these guys are responsible for creating logos, banners and other artworks for different types of businesses.
4. How to find professional graphic designers?
You can find professional graphic designers on the internet or from local connections. The best way to find them is to look on those sites that provide profiles of freelancers. You can take a look at their portfolio to know about their capabilities. This will give you a perfect idea about their skills and experience in the field.
5. What are the famous graphic design projects for beginners?
Being a beginner, you can start graphic designing by learning the art of logos and banner design. It will help you to know about the basics of graphics and how to use them in creating different types of projects.
That takes us to the end of this blog in which we have discussed different types of graphic design projects suitable for beginners. We all know that it has become a very lucrative field, rightly due to its demand in the world. Today, there are a lot of opportunities available for graphic designers. From IT to the medical field, the demand of graphic designers is everywhere making them a real asset for every company.
If you also want to become a graphic designer, you need to first work on the projects defined above. It will help you to know about the basics of graphic designing, allowing you to learn its art completely. This is indeed a very lucrative field that provides everyone great opportunities to work regularly.
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This entry was posted on Monday, November 8th, 2021, 12:19 pm and is filed under Graphic Design .
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2022 Self-Improving passion Project
As someone who has worked in the field of creative works and aspire to be better, I think I have reached the point once again that I need to improve myself, my skills, and my knowledge. So in 2022, I will try my best to work on various projects that come into my mind or as I find inspiration. I am dedicating this page to posting my work so I can keep track and see my improvement.
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12 Graphic Design Practice Exercises
As a beginning graphic designer, it can be hard to find the motivation or resources to practice your graphic design skills. There are, however, lots of places to train your design skills and get some practice before working for bigger clients. Getting as much practice as possible is essential when you’re a beginning graphic designer.
The more time you put into practicing graphic design, the easier the design process will get for you. You not only will learn to think like a graphic designer but you’ll also get better used to using keyboard shortcuts and other tricks that will make you more efficient as a graphic designer. See graphic design practice exercises as an investment for your graphic design career. Right now you’ll spend some time on it but in the end, it will all pay off in the amount of experience and practice you’ll get doing graphic design exercises.
Design something for an imaginary client
Graphic design brief generators like FakeClients.com let you easily create briefs from fake businesses as if they were real. This makes it easy to use them as practice exercises because they are a lot like clients you would get in the real world. If you use services like FakeClients.com a few times per week to design some logos or graphic design work, you automatically get more comfortable working for clients and build up a portfolio in the meantime. A downside to these fake clients is, of course, that they aren’t as realistic as real-life clients that would contact you for design work.
If you really want to challenge yourself to get better at graphic design as quickly as possible, you can start a daily design challenge. FakeClients is a great tool to use for a daily design challenge like that. Simply set yourself to a specific timeline, like 2 months, and every day, you’ll use the FakeClients generator to generate a new graphic design exercise for you. This will get you used to the whole design process of coming up with an idea, working it out and finishing it. It isn’t really like working for a real client but at least you’ll get better used to the design process. Another great outcome of a challenge like this is that in the end, you’ll have tons of work you can showcase on your portfolio. You’ll probably have some lesser work that you wouldn’t want to put in your portfolio but the great thing about a challenge like this is that you have more than enough good work to create a beautiful portfolio.
Redesign an existing brand
Just like designing for fake clients, redesigning an existing brand is a great way to get more experienced with design. Redesigning existing brands can be especially useful if it's a small brand for which branding can be improved on. If you have done a redesign of such a brand, for example, you can always contact them offering them your redesign. Many brands will be happy to work with you in the future because you helped them out before and it’s a great case to show on your portfolio. You also don’t necessarily have to redesign something related to the brand, but you can also design something entirely new. For example, if a brand doesn’t have an app yet, you can try to imagine what a design of an app for them would look like. Brands will often be happy to see the time and work you’ve put into creating something new for them and might even use it. When you’re redesigning something for an existing brand, it’s often easy to get caught up into the visual side of the design and forget about functionality. Be sure to keep that in mind when designing something for an existing brand. The functionality of a design is often almost as important as the way it looks.
Create a logo for yourself
If you just started out designing, you often don’t have your own branding yet. It can be very helpful to start with your own brand, before designing for others. Design a logo for your name, a business card, a website, and stuff like that. You will be your first client so you know what to ask for yourself and what you’ll need. It teaches you how to deal with those needs and how to fit in with the market around you. Don’t start out designing immediately though. Go through the entire process like you would with a high paying client. Firstly, go through your mission, your needs, and who you want to target with, for example, your website design and after all that start with the design itself.
Drawing and sketching
Most experienced logo and graphic designers will tell you that sketching out a design is one of the most important stages of the design process. You start out sketching to bring an idea onto paper. Drawing exercises can help you get into the habit of sketching and drawing your designs before getting on the computer. Draw some icons of logos and see how you can improve them. You can also take things from the real world and try to create a simplistic version of it, like a logo. Take a leaf for example and simplify it so it could be used as a logo.
Offer graphic design work to family and friends
Another great, and easy way to get some practice in graphic design is to ask around, with friends and family if there is anyone that needs a design for something. Most people don’t know they need it so you can always offer to make them, for example, a flyer for an event, a business card, or anything like that. Start out creating them for free. This way, your graphic design services will spread quickly. People will tell their friends about the amazing designs you created for them and if you’re lucky, someone else will want your design too.
Other design exercise games
Sometimes it can become a bit tiring to keep practicing graphic design by working on creating new designs. You can also try to work on your skills more individually to try and perfect them. Lately, a lot of graphic design exercise games have come up and gained popularity. These games are a fun exercise for graphic designers and meanwhile will keep your design skills sharp.
Pixel Guesser - Test your sense of pixels
If you have been a designer for some time, you probably have quite a good understanding of the pixel sizes of different objects. This is because most graphic designers, especially ones that deal with digital designs, likely have had to use pixels as a type of measurement. How good is your sense of pixel sizes? Test this in this game by drawing boxes and try to get the lowest possible score by getting as close to the given size as possible.
Font Quiz - Guess the right font
Just as the other graphic design games and exercises, this font quiz will likely be easiest for the designers with the most experience. Most graphic designers deal with fonts every day but do you remember the name of each of them? This font quiz contains over 450 of the most popular fonts from Google Fonts and every time you play the quiz, different font names are given. Try to get the highest score by correctly matching the font name to the right font.
HEX Guess - Guess the right color from the HEX code
HEX codes are specific 6-character-long codes assigned to colors that you can recognize by the "#". Most designers have probably used HEX codes and probably have some sense of the way these codes are made up. Play this HEX guess exercise to test your sense of the colors that belong to these codes.
Hue Test - Test your ability to differentiate colors by lining them up correctly
As color obviously is a vital element in any design, it is crucial for a graphic designer to have a keen eye for color. While small changes in color can greatly affect a design as a whole, being able to spot these small differences in color becomes very important. You, for example, will have to be able to tell which shade of green works best with the other colors you're working with. This exercise will help you test yourself and will give you the opportunity to train yourself in becoming better at spotting these slight differences in color.
Good kerning is incredibly important when you are designing something that involves text. Kerning is the spacing between letters or characters in a piece of text. If a design has bad kerning, a design can quickly look awkward. If you already are an experienced designer, you’ll likely already have a good eye for kerning but if you just started out, it can’t hurt to get some more practice. ‘Kern Type’ is the perfect exercise for practicing kerning, it’s a beautifully designed online exercise where you have to align the letters in a word as good as possible.
The Bezier Game
The pen tool is probably one of the most important and most used tools by any designer. It is also a tricky tool to learn and master. You gradually get better at using it when you use it in your work but it can also cause some problems when you want to work on more complex designs. That’s why practice with the pen tool is crucial and often overlooked. You can do this in Illustrator or your program of choice, but there’s also a fun game for it that can help you. In the Bezier Game, you try to follow certain predefined shapes with the pen tool so you can try to get better at it.
Munsell Hue Test
Lastly, this is a fun and simple game to test your color acuity. You simply try to get the colors in the right order. When you think you’re finished, you fill in your gender and age and you get to see how you compare against others.
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The 14 Best Graphic Design Portfolios We've Ever Seen, & How to Start Your Own
Published: June 03, 2022
A great graphic design portfolio can’t move mountains, but it can change your life with a new job or opportunity. AI and other factors are impacting graphic design hiring, making your portfolio more important than ever before.
And while some designers still carry a physical book of printed design examples, most portfolios are graphic designer websites. These sites show audiences much more than design skills like logo design or typography.
Whether you're a full-time graphic designer or dabbling in design as a side project in your free time, it's critical you create a sleek graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.
Fortunately, we've created a list of 14 impressive graphic design portfolios, followed by instructions on how you can create your own. Keep reading to get all the tips you need to curate the perfect space to showcase your work.
Graphic Design Portfolio Website Examples
- Morag Myerscough
- Heather Shaw
- Mohamed Samir
- Gleb Kuznetsov
- Chris Tammar
- Sophia Yeshi
- Stefanie Brückler
- Alex Trochut
- Tobias van Schneider
- Kate Moross
- Nisha K. Sethi
A graphic design portfolio is one of the most important elements a client needs to see when choosing a graphic designer — which means a portfolio is vital for proving your skill as a designer.
Additionally, a graphic design portfolio, much like a resume, provides necessary contact information, and any case studies you care to include from past employers.
Most portfolios today are graphic designer websites. This means that they’re not only a way to connect with clients. They also help graphic designers build communities and share their work with potential fans around the world.
So what does a graphic design portfolio need to look like to stand out? Some of the best graphic design portfolios today include these elements:
- Motion graphics
- Original illustrations
- Product design
- Ad campaigns
- Storyboards
- Brand identity
Let’s look at some graphic design portfolio website examples to inspire and motivate your portfolio development. You could be a traditional graphic designer or experimenting with new media. There’s something here for everyone.
1. Morag Myerscough
Bright graphics, animations, and clean design make this an exceptional graphic design portfolio. This approach is great for designers who lean into the art of design. It also works for designers who take on more experimental or site-specific projects.
Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Myerscough’s aesthetic is unique and this image-focused site quickly communicates her style.
Short sections of copy connect her visual brand to her background, professional experience, and personal philosophy. The combination makes the site feel like it shows the whole designer, not just a visualization of the work she does for clients.
2. Heather Shaw
This graphic design portfolio website includes samples of book and website designs, branding, and more. It’s good for designers who work in many different media but want to present a cohesive portfolio.
Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Heather Shaw’s portfolio is super clear and easy to navigate. It shows a wide range of skills and approaches to solving client problems, but it’s also visually consistent.
The designer also uses text effectively to explain each project and to encourage further engagement with the work.
3. Mohamed Samir
Samir’s work includes branding, typography, posters, and print design. So, this graphic design portfolio zeros in on a tight collection of award-winning designs.
This graphic design portfolio is on Behance . This makes it a good fit for graphic designers who want an online presence without designing their own website.
Why we love this graphic designer's website: Besides the high quality of the design work, this portfolio shows a diverse range of approaches to typography and style. At the same time, it shows a consistent vision and passion for visual communication.
The printed design work is also well-photographed. While the designer could have added a digital file instead, the photographs give you a better sense of the final polished design.
4. Gleb Kuznetsov
Kuznetsov’s portfolio combines product design, user experience, and graphic design to create something entirely new. This Dribble-hosted portfolio has over 50 images, which could be overwhelming. But they're split into seven easy-to-understand projects.
This makes it a great graphic design portfolio example for designers who want to show long-term or complex projects.
Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: From the images to his brief "About" statement, this designer makes his unique vision and personality part of the work and its presentation.
5. Chris Tammar
Great designers often let the work do the talking. It’s a streamlined graphic design portfolio that calls attention to client deliverables. When text is present, it adds to the value of the work, like mentioning other websites that featured their infographics. This is a great portfolio format for designers doing graphic design work like:
- Logo design
- Brochures for business clients
Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: This group of work is simple and to the point. It also shows off a wide range of skills and tactics with a consistent vision.
6. Sophia Yeshi
A clear header and tile design emphasize work samples from this powerful graphic designer.
While the tiles emphasize the designer’s unique style, you can click on each tile to get the full details about each project. This is a great approach for designers who want to share the deeper story behind each project while still making the site easy to navigate.
Why we love this graphic designer's website: A distinct style is important in graphic design. That said, it can be tough to show how many ways you can apply that distinct style in a business context. Major brands, including Google, Nike, and Comcast, use Yeshi’s unique illustrative voice to speak for their brands.
This website portfolio makes that point clear, while still making graphic design the focus.
7. Stefanie Brüeckler
This portfolio includes packaging design, illustration, and web design as well as graphic design and branding work. It’s one of our favorite graphic designer websites because it’s clean and easy to navigate.
It also shows a lot of different examples of work at a glance. This makes it a great example for designers who aren’t sure how to organize all the work they want to include in their portfolio.
Why we love this graphic designer website example: Brückler’s graphic design portfolio focuses on the tiniest of details to create an excellent user experience. From the simple page loading animation to the thoughtful use of motion graphics, this designer hones in on the stunning details.
8. Chip Kidd
Book cover designer Chip Kidd’s graphic design portfolio website uses lightbox-style pop-ups. Popups make it easier to focus on each book cover. This is a smart way to narrow in on the visuals with a graphic design site while still making it easy to see all the work in one place.
Kidd uses a range of different styles for book covers, and it’s edited in a way that makes this range look natural and exciting instead of chaotic.
Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: The dark background makes this graphic designer’s style pop. And the simple side navigation gives users a quick path to learn more about the designer and his work.
9. MDZ Design
Concise and exciting images on this graphic designer website example give site visitors a peek at execution and strategy.
MDZ Design also offers product design and strategy to clients. This makes their graphic design portfolio a useful example for strategy-focused designers.
Why we love this graphic designer website example: The range of services this portfolio shows could be overwhelming or confusing. Instead, it’s a chance to see their approach to problem-solving. They also make it easy to see how their process leads to results for their clients.
10. Alex Trochut
This graphic design portfolio is also a home for Trochut’s product design, animations, music, and NFTs. It’s a great example for multimedia artists who want to present their work on a single website. It also works for creators with a big collection of work to show.
Why we love this graphic designer website example: The four-column layout of this site shows image thumbnails of varying sizes. Each column moves at a different pace as you scroll down the page.
This motion feels dynamic and exciting and reinforces this designer’s original takes on color, type, and layout.
11. Tobias van Schneider
This graphic design portfolio website uses a range of type sizes and contrasts to emphasize the ideas it communicates. This is a great approach for entrepreneurial designers. It's also smart for anyone who does collaborations as part of their design work.
Why we love this graphic designer's website: A sticky header and big blocks of color and text make this graphic designer website interesting to explore. This site also uses scale well. It combines big images with both big and small text to emphasize each client project.
12. Kate Moross
There are many ways to play up a unique style, and this graphic design website highlights this designer’s recent work as well as a full project archive. This is a great example for designers who also do illustration.
Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Moross uses space effectively on this site. It’s easy to get an immediate sense of the designer’s distinct style. The simple navigation helps users refine their search to target a specific type of work, like hand-drawn type or editorial design.
LingK's portfolio features their latest project while also showing other industry niches. The structure of the website helps prospective clients quickly decide if they want to work with this designer.
Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: It can be tough to convey how campaign materials for a complex event, like a wedding or conference, work together. This designer effectively shows the breadth and depth of work for each project and makes it easy to see the value of each deliverable.
14. Nisha K. Sethi
Sethi’s portfolio is simple and straightforward. It puts the spotlight on each design project. The "About" section also tells a clear story that encourages further questions and conversation.
It can be tempting to tell an audience everything on your website. But a great portfolio should offer enough samples to entice clients to reach out and learn more, but not so much that it overwhelms. This website is a great example of offering just enough.
Why we love this graphic designer website example: This graphic design portfolio combines hand-lettering, printmaking, and other media with digital design. While this designer works in a range of media, their portfolio shows a strong voice that is effective across many channels.
How to Make a Graphic Design Portfolio
- Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
- Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
- Include a professional case study, or client recommendations.
- Integrate your personality.
- Describe the creative process.
- Show non-client work, or side projects.
1. Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
Lindsay Burke , a HubSpot Product Designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio. She says, "I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website."
Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs — undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won't have the time to look at more, and if your first couple projects are impressive enough, they shouldn't need to.
But it's equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you've dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it's good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.
2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients.
Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs — for instance, perhaps you'll include 'Projects', 'About Me', and 'Contact Me' sections, so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.
Take a look at this list of the best website builders if you need help choosing a platform for your portfolio.
3. Include a professional case study or client recommendations.
Lindsay Burke told me it's incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals — "Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project's background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable. A lot of time, effort, and iteration goes into design solutions, and a written case study will help communicate your unique process."
To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps.
In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.
Additionally, it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to demonstrate a level of professionalism.
4. Integrate your personality.
As you can see in the examples above, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist's unique style. Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider's portfolio will expect something vastly different from someone looking at Ling K's site. Ensure your portfolio — including layout, background, and website title — reflects who you are as a designer.
5. Describe the creative process.
Each designer has a unique process when working with clients — and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better. It's important you include context, so visitors can get a sense of how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.
Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client figure out whether you're capable of handling the scope of their project.
For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client's mobile site. In this case, context is critical.
6. Show non-client work, or side projects.
Amanda Chong , a former HubSpot Designer, says, "Side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They're also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work."
If you're just starting out, it's acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense of your ability and style.
Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt's company, or an internal design you created for your current company — ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.
Graphic Design Portfolio Ideas
- Help a local business or start-up with its design and brand.
- Create content for your own personal brand.
- Redesign an existing website.
- Create graphic design materials for a made-up company.
- Design a logo for a brand you love.
- Create a stock theme for WordPress.
- Take part in a design challenge.
1. Help a local business or start-up with its design and brand.
One of the easiest ways to begin building your client base is by reaching out to non-profits or local businesses in your area. Think about creating mock-ups or sketches in advance, These can help you give businesses a sense of your skill and vision.
Perhaps you think a local restaurant needs a new menu logo, or want to help a gift shop with their online marketing materials.
Projects like these will help you better understand local marketing challenges, and give you time to develop your skills in those areas. You never know what a pro-bono project could lead to next.
2. Create content for your own personal brand.
As you build personal brand content, take the time to ensure your marketing materials are cohesive and sleek.
Design a unique logo for your brand. Next, start building your website, and add that same design across various materials, including your business card and resume. This is also a great time to start a branded social media account, and to create posts that show off your design skills and interests.
Clients are more likely to work with you if they can see the type of high-quality work you're able to create for yourself.
3. Redesign an existing website.
Don’t wait for your dream client to give you a call. Instead, create a complete website redesign for a well-known brand to prove your skills to future clients.
This is a well-known strategy already used by plenty of designers — just take a look at some of the impressive Behance mock-ups for brands like Twitch .
Additionally, Amanda Chong told me, "If you're creating mockups for established brands to use as part of your portfolio, it's important to pair this with a case study or description of the process that helped you arrive at your proposed design. Talk about what you think wasn't working with the existing design, some of the constraints that you think the designers were working with, and why you made the decisions that you did."
Chong added, "Mockups are great at showing your visual design skills, but don't necessarily demonstrate your ability to work in a real-world context, so you'll want to take the time to explain how you would have approached it in a true business setting."
4. Create graphic design materials for a made-up company.
If your designs are impressive enough, potential clients won't care that you created them for a fictitious company. In fact, you could impress them with your innovation and creativity.
Consider demonstrating your skills by putting together a creative brief for a fake company, complete with wireframes and sketches. Other projects you can create for imaginary companies include:
- Style guides
- Social media ads
- Apparel graphics
- Wrapping paper
- Brochures and email newsletters
- Simple GIFs
- Animated infographics
- Trade show booths
- Branded wall art
- Pitch decks
- Book covers
In due time, real companies will take notice.
5. Design a logo for a brand you love.
Stick to the type of content you enjoy designing. If you're particularly adept at making logos, and are often inspired by the logos used by real brands, consider designing an alternative logo for a brand you like.
Then take a look at these inspiring reimagined NFL logos . While these NFL teams probably won’t make a shift, they're great examples of the designers' skills and creativity.
6. Create a stock theme for WordPress.
WordPress, a popular content management system, allows users to develop stock themes for WP. Best of all, if your theme is approved, you can sell it as a premium theme for extra cash.
Begin by studying WordPress's most popular themes, and considering how you can create an impressive alternative. Take a look at WordPress's Theme Review Requirements and this overview of how to create a child theme to learn more.
7. Take part in a design challenge.
To get inspired, practice your skills, or interact with other designers in a community and build your portfolio at the same time, think about participating in a design challenge.
Design challenges can also help you uncover skills you didn't know you had by forcing you to step outside your design comfort zone.
There are various daily, weekly, or monthly challenges that will send you prompts on things to design — for instance, try checking out the Daily UI Design Challenge or The Daily Logo Challenge .
Graphic Design Portfolio Tips
- Show your versatility.
- Display your best work.
- Include case studies.
- Make it clean and easy to navigate.
- Prominently display contact information.
- Display your unique personality.
You’ve done the work, and now you’re pulling together your graphic design portfolio. Try these tips to make your graphic design portfolio stand out.
1. Show your versatility.
A portfolio should show a range of different works, so you want to highlight what you can do. Some clients prefer a more streamlined look, while others are looking for more experimentation.
If you have clients from different industries, include some work from each industry. Then, edit your portfolio based on the kind of client you’re showing your portfolio to.
For example, if you’re meeting with a client in real estate, show work samples from similar industries.
You’ll also want to show anyone who sees your portfolio what you can do. So, if you create design logos, books, and motion graphics, include a little bit of everything in your portfolio.
2. Display your best work.
That said, try to limit your portfolio to your best work. Don’t include a piece in your portfolio just to show that you can do it. The way that you edit your portfolio shows that you understand your strengths and know how to play them up. So, edit your portfolio to include only your best work.
If you’re great with one skill set but not as good with another, edit your portfolio to spotlight that skill. If possible, create portfolio pieces that show many skill sets at the same time.
For example, if you love hand lettering, a poster could emphasize your graphic design skills alongside this unique ability.
3. Include case studies.
Every client is unique, and each will teach you something new. As you continue to work with different clients, build up a collection of these stories.
Try not to throw anything away without documenting it. That page of thumbnails might not be much to look at on its own, but this kind of work in progress is a great way to show prospective clients how you solve problems.
When you present case studies in your portfolio, start with the initial problem your client approached you with. Next, show what the conversation and ideation process looked like over time. As you pull your case study together, don't forget to include the final solution you delivered.
4. Make it clean and easy to navigate.
Design is about more than visual skills, it’s about communicating. So the format of your portfolio, whether it’s printed or online, should be clear and simple to scan.
This point is especially important for graphic designer websites. It can be tempting to build a website that shows off the latest trends or to add Easter eggs that people need to hunt for. There’s a fine line between art and design, and those approaches can be super inspiring.
But building a complex site can also mean that clients in a hurry could miss some of your best work.
For example, a graphic designer once sent his portfolio to a creative director friend of mine. They liked the designer’s drawing but didn’t see much of the graphic design or web work that he talked about in his resume. With a little digging, they found a URL in one of the sketchbook drawings, and that URL led to his website.
This hide-and-seek process was cool, but it wasn’t clear or easy to navigate. This scenario could have been a missed opportunity for that designer.
5. Prominently display contact information.
If someone wants to talk to you, there are many places they can find you online. But you want to make it easy for them, and for you. You don’t want to miss out on an important meeting because a client reached out to you with an email you don’t check anymore.
Most graphic designer websites have a contact page that has your contact information. Once you add this to your site, be sure to check that the links and forms are working.
6. Display your unique personality.
There are thousands of successful graphic designers out there, and you might be competing against some of them for your next client. So, the best tip for a great portfolio is to be yourself.
Whether you have a feel for typography or are talented with color, show off the way that you see the world in your graphic design portfolio. Think about every detail, and then execute to the best of your ability.
Whether it’s the first version of your portfolio or the 200th, make it feel like something only you could create.
The best graphic design portfolios aren’t ever finished.
You’ve learned about the value of a graphic design portfolio and checked out some of the best portfolio examples. You read about how to create your portfolio, then you scanned some smart ideas to build on the graphic design work you’ve already completed.
So what’s next?
Even the best graphic design portfolios need constant updates. Keep in mind that while your first graphic design portfolio may be complete, portfolio building won’t ever really end.
What do you want to tackle for your next project? Social media to promote your new portfolio? A new resume or professional bio to attract clients? The possibilities are endless.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
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Haley Badenhop
Illustrator | Muralist | Educator for Creatives
What type of Passion Designer are you?
Passion designer: a creative person who designs a life they love around what they’re best at., do you ever mull over your morning coffee wondering how the heck to use your passions to help others take the quiz and start killin’ it today, what do you really want in life.
I created the Passion Design Project for a simple reason. I was dying to figure out HOW the amazing people I admired were living out their most incredible life (and usually being crazy generous in the process), so I set out to study the process and tell EVERYTHING I learned along the way.
I’m guessing you found your way here because you have wildly lofty goals, too, and are a little confused how in the heck to make those dreams your reality (preferably in the quickest way possible!)
I hear ya! And that’s why I made the change from being employed as a Fashion Designer to bossin’ it up as a Passion Designer. I do this all to motivate and help creatives + aspiring entrepreneurs unleash their talents and create the most passionate life or biz that makes you wake up energized every day, and gives you the freedom to jet-set the world.
If that sounds like something you daydream about or are grinding towards, you’re in the right place! Watch the video above, listen to a podcast, and let’s design your most passionate life!
Passion Design Project
The podcast, join me for engaging interviews with creatives, goal-getters, & travelpreneurs… plus solo-shows on how to build your own online creative biz, new episodes every monday , 104: designing and launching my first course.
Hey! And as always, have the best day ever!!! Thanks so much for listening!! I would love if you'd leave a review & subscribe on iTunes...HOW TO LEAVE A REVIEW FROM YOUR IPHONE: 1. Open podcast app 2. Search for "Passion Design Project" ...
Hey Hey, I’m Haley
Artist. Podcast Host. Passion Designer. I’m constantly looking to bring more adventure travel and good coffee in my life and really love making an impact on the world in the process. (Most likely, just like you.)
As an artist, my jam is showing Creatives how to create an amazing life + biz around what they love (and are best at) doing. I’m all about helping you monetize passions, create more freedom, and live a mega fun life!
Read More…
The Passion Design Project Proudly Supports:
55 Ideas For Your Next Passion Project
Sometimes you need an escape from the hectic work week and the non-stop flow of chores and duties.
Finding an escape doesn’t always mean disconnecting, but rather, finding a passion that helps you connect more to yourself and what you enjoy.
Passion projects are just that.
They allow you to explore your creativity by spending free time and energy devoted to what you love, whether it’s a charitable cause or a creative outlet.
5 Reasons You Need a Passion Project
Start a newsletter, write short stories, live waste-free, learn calligraphy, start a community garden, take pottery classes, start a blog, start a youtube channel , engage in letter writing campaigns , review literature or films, become a playwright , refurbish antiques, start a zine , run for local office, try graphic design , model for drawing classes, start a charity, organize elaborate dinner parties, perform at poetry open mics, compete in marathons, learn to cook like a chef, landscape your backyard , learn a new language , learn how to code, organize a salon, start a book club, lead workout classes, put your home on airbnb and travel, learn to weave or knit, host a podcast, host a stand-up comedy night, paint pet portraits, photograph weddings , make short films, produce your own music , discover your ancestry , upcycle thrifted clothes , train for a long-distance hike , film a documentary, start an instagram campaign , get involved in community theatre, teach an art class , get a booth at the farmer’s market, become a yoga/pilates instructor , pick up a new instrument , restore vintage cars , join an improv group , take acting classes, learn interior design , learn woodworking , fill up a sketchbook , read a book a week , start a research project, study a scientific theory , become an amateur zoologist , passion project examples, what is a passion project and how to choose yours.
A passion project is an activity or endeavor you pursue because it inspires you and gives you deep satisfaction, fulfillment, and engagement.
It’s something you pursue for the sheer joy of it. The love of what you are doing outweighs any other considerations.
Your passion project may be related to your career, or it may lead to a career. But that isn’t the main motivation. Expressing your passion is what drives you.
Finding an outlet for your passions also can help ease stress and mental unrest. However, not everyone knows what they are passionate about , making the process of choosing a project even more difficult.
Here are a few ways to choose a project that works for you:
- Make a list of your interests. When you scroll through Instagram or Facebook, what captivates you? If you follow lots of art accounts, learning to draw would be a great passion project!
- Ask your friends what they do as a side hustle . Learn about their process and how they found their passion. Follow the same path and see where it leads you.
- Remember what you loved as a child. If you loved collecting bugs as a kid or making houses for dolls, you may have dropped your hobby as you grew up. Look back at that time and see how you can channel that into a worthwhile project now.
- Figure out what you have time for. If you have too many ideas, narrow it down to what is feasible in your free time. You may love to travel, but only get a week of paid vacation.
- It will make your life more fulfilling and meaningful.
- You will find like-minded people to share your passion with.
- You will learn more about yourself and what inspires you.
- You could make money if the project leads to career opportunities .
- You could find your life’s purpose.
55 Passion Project Ideas
If you need some inspiration and ideas for your own passion project, we have you covered with the following activities to consider.
There are endless possibilities for the content of a newsletter, from sharing recipes to updating friends with the recent developments in your favorite tv show.
Writing short stories can help boost the confidence of any writer and is the best way to prepare for fiction writing.
Help the environment and save some money by reducing your waste in your home and on the go. Try to motivate others to do the same.
There’s nothing more satisfying than a beautiful handwritten note. Calligraphy is an art form in itself and a perfect passion project for writers and artists.
Connect with Mother Earth and your neighbors by forming a cooperative garden in your community.
Come harvest time you’ll reap the rewards of your passion and feel the satisfaction of growing your own food!
Ceramic pottery is one of the earliest art forms, not to mention its beautiful practicality. Sell dishware or sculptures to make money, or just keep your creations for yourself.
As the saying goes — if you love something, write about it! Blogs are the perfect way to connect to a larger audience and bond over shared interests.
Vlog about your life, make reviews or share lifestyle tips. Use your unique personality to inspire, educate, or entertain others.
You don’t have to have lots of money to have an influence on politics. Letter writing can have a huge effect on the issues you care about.
Are your friends tired of you chatting their ears off about your favorite movies? Start writing about then instead. You may end up connecting with a like-minded audience.
There are many ways to channel the writing muse. If you have a story to tell, write a play! You could even have a local community theatre produce it.
If you have a keen aesthetic eye and the right tools, refurbishing old furniture could be your next passion project.
Zines are small-format self-published magazines where you can collect poetry, collages, essays, and more under a unique vision.
If you are tired of the way your local government is running things, be the change! Adults of all ages have held office in their local governments and made huge impacts on their communities.
It’s not too late to get a crash course in Adobe Illustrator. Graphic design is a lucrative business for creatives that can be done remotely as a side gig or a full-time job.
It may seem strange but being a part of someone else’s creative journey can be just as exciting as embarking on your own. Help out artists by modeling for them.
If you have the funds and a cause you care about, starting a charity or nonprofit can be deeply fulfilling. Find out how you can serve your community by researching your area and getting to know its residents.
Throwing a good dinner party is an art. From planning the menu to decorating, your passion project will give you experience in many creative roles.
Check online or in your local paper for any open mics in your area. These are great places to test your poetry with an audience and build a following.
If you love to run, training for a marathon gives you a long-term goal to work towards. And you’ll improve your endurance and overall fitness.
YouTube channels like Bon Appetit can help you become an at-home chef as you learn to prepare gourment meals for friends and family.
Landscape design could be your next creative venture. If you don’t have a spacious backyard, volunteer to spruce up a friend’s yard. Take an online landscape design or master gardener course to improve your skills.
The famous Frederico Fellini once said, “A different language is a different vision of life.” Expand your vision of life by learning a new language.
Does technology turn you on? Coding is a fundamental skill for so many jobs, but it also allows you to pursue your own online passion projects. Learning to code improves your logic and problem-solving abilities.
A salon is a gathering of intellectuals to discuss literature, art, and academics. If you are an intellectually minded person, starting a salon might be the perfect venture!
Gather a few book-loving friends for a monthly get-together. Pick an old favorite book or a new bestseller to discuss at your regular meetings. Take turns hosting and providing drinks and snacks.
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Do you love fitness classes and wish you could teach them? Many local gyms offer training programs for teaching. This can lead to lucrative side hustle or just something fun and fulfilling.
It’s not always easy to travel when you have to worry about paying your own mortgage. Offer your home for short-term rentals, giving you the funds to travel yourself. The world is your oyster!
Learning to make textiles isn’t as hard as you think. There are great tutorials all over the web. All you need is your hands, some yarn, and a loom.
There are many different types of podcasts, from storytelling podcasts to finance. Pick a topic you love, purchase the recording equipment, and start podcasting.
Do your friends think you’re hilarious? Have they ever said, “You should do stand-up!” Channel your great sense of humor into a weekly comedy show at a local bar or cafe.
You’d be surprised how many people would love a high-quality portrait of their furry friends. Lend your artistic eye to paint a few pups, and you’ve got yourself a potential business!
Do you love photography and want to get better at it? Wedding photography can be incredibly expensive. If you have friends getting married, offer your services at a low cost as you improve your skills.
Smartphones have amazing capabilities nowadays, and plenty of high-quality films have been shot on iPhones. If you have a vision for a film, shoot it yourself, and get feedback by sharing it on social media.
If you are musically inclined, become your own producer. Start with simple software like GarageBand to learn the basics. Make an album or just play around!
Websites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe are excellent resources for learning more about your family’s past.
You don’t have to be an amazing seamstress to make your own clothes. Transforming an old dress into a new creation can be as easy as a few simple alterations.
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail can be life-altering. Check out Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild for an account of her experience hiking the PCT alone.
Are there people or events that fascinate you? Do you enjoy interviewing and researching? There are stories all around you. Pick up a camera and start filming your own documentary.
Instagram is a great way to communicate a message. If you care about a particular cause, use social media to get the word out.
There are many jobs that need to be filled at community theatres, from actors to tech crew to designers. Volunteer your services and enjoy connecting with other creatives.
Do you draw or paint? You could be qualified to teach at a local recreation center, or you could even offer private lessons.
Booths are available to many different types of vendors, from farmers to local craftspeople. Make or grow something you love and share it with your community.
Most yoga studios offer teacher training. Check out the websites of local yoga and pilates studios to find classes.
Have you always wanted to be in a band but don’t play an instrument? It’s never too late to learn. There are many instruments that are surprisingly easy to pick up.
Do you have mechanical abilities and love cars? There’s a huge community of vintage car collectors who attend large conventions where you can admire each other’s hard work.
Improv is a unique form of comedy that is made up entirely on the spot. Exercise your funny bone by joining a local troupe.
You don’t have to seek a career in Hollywood to take a few acting classes. They can help with public speaking, creativity, and confidence. And they are a great place to meet friends.
Do you have an eye for style? Does the idea of shopping at IKEA fill you with joy instead of overwhelming dread? Try interior decorating or design.
Woodworking is steeped in tradition and will connect you to the past while helping you to build something new and useful.
This may just sound like doodling, but filling a sketchbook can be a serious undertaking and an art form itself. The more you sketch, the better you’ll become.
If you haven’t picked up a good book since your last high school English class, make it a project to read a new work of fiction a week. You’ll be surprised by the profound effect it will have on your life.
Your academic pursuits don’t have to end after you graduate. Head to the library and find a topic that interests you. Your research might lead you to write an academic article or even a book.
Did you hate physics in high school but wish you knew more now? It’s never too late to fall back in love with science. There are dozens of educational YouTube channels to inspire you and help you learn.
There’s an entire subreddit dedicated to Zoology. You don’t have to be a child or a scientist to love and study animals.
Looking for some real-world passion project examples? Take a look at these projects of well-known people you’ll recognize. Perhaps their passions will inspire your own.
- Actress Gwenyth Paltrow channeled her love of beauty and wellness into her massively successful lifestyle company, Goop .
- Michael J. Fox turned his Parkinson’s disease challenge into a project to help others suffering with the same disease
- Star of NBC’s The Good Place , Jameela Jamil, started her online community I Weigh to promote body diversity and inclusivity.
- Actress Halle Berry dedicates her time volunteering at the Jenesse Center , a domestic violence intervention program.
- Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google, has spent his time and money on a start-up called Zee.Aero with the aim of developing flying cars.
Have you found your passion project?
Undertaking a passion project can be a transformative experience, uplifting your spirits, and motivating your work.
Too often we get stuck in a rut without exploring the various opportunities available to us. We think we don’t have a passion or worry that we might try something that we won’t like.
But exploring your passion could be your passion project for now. View the search as a fun adventure and see where it leads you.
Passion projects amplify your childhood curiosity, giving you permission to explore again.
Take some time to jot down a few ideas for your next passion project. Do some research and take the first steps on an idea that interests you. It could lead to something life-changing.
- Inspiration
10 Inspiring Side Projects From Designers
Christopher Simmons – The message is medium rare
Davey Heuser – IconJar
Frank Chimero – The Shape of Design
Nguyen Le – Process Masterclass
Lauren Hom – Passion to Paid
Chandan Mishra – Design Languages
Jessica Hische – Should I Work For Free?
Edoardo Rainoldi – Rooki.design
Davide Baratta – TypoStories
Nicole Saidy – To Inspire About Design
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8 sensational side projects to inspire you
Stuck in a creative rut? Ignite your creative passion with a side project.
Life as a designer doesn't always work out as you might have hoped. You might have your heart set on working within a particular area of design, but the realities of paying the bills often means that you spend most of your time on less thrilling corporate work. It all helps to hone your skills, but if you're not feeling the love for the day job then a good self-initiated side project can be a massive boon.
A side project can provide an outlet for your own creative dreams and give you the chance to explore more experimental design (opens in new tab) , but it can also provide opportunities down the line. A good side project demonstrates your skills and your passion to potential clients and employers, and can add to your design portfolio (opens in new tab) .
Side projects can lead to you getting the sort of work that you want to do, rather than the jobs you have to take to keep the money coming in, and in some cases, a side project can grow into your main source of income. You may already have your own side project on the go; if you don't, these are sure to inspire you (as will these perfect font pairings ).
Like most of us, the team at Si Digital (opens in new tab) love a game of table tennis, but they're not so enamoured with the whole business of keeping track of scores and maintaining leaderboards. So they built an app to do that, leaving them free to concentrate on perfecting their spinning backhand shots. Tivit (opens in new tab) works as a virtual umpire, arranging matches, logging scores and feeding results through into leaderboards, and the team have made it available for anyone; since opening it up to the public, Tivit has logged nearly 14,000 games worldwide.
02. Rooki.design
Edoardo Rainoldi (opens in new tab) is an award-winning digital product designer from Italy, and in his spare time he's launched Rooki.design (opens in new tab) , an online magazine for young creatives. It features interviews with established designers, sharing their tips and tricks for getting ahead in the creative industries, and regularly showcases the work of up-and-coming designers. Most recently it's launched its own design awards, with the help of Awwwards and the FWA.
03. This is Non-Binary
'Non-binary' is one of those terms that you've probably heard but might not quite get what it means. Thankfully August Tang (opens in new tab) , a non-binary multidisciplinary creative from Phoenix, Arizona, is here to help with an informative and sometimes personal side project. This is Non-Binary (opens in new tab) explains what being non-binary actually means and what it's like to be non-binary, as well as explaining all those pronouns and their importance, plus how to be supportive to a non-binary person. The navigation's a little eccentric, but August says that they're planning to add page transition animations to make it more intuitive.
04. TypoStories
If you love typography and the potential of interesting font pairings, this side project by Davide Baratta (opens in new tab) , design lead at Impero, is sure to delight you. TypoStories (opens in new tab) is an ongoing study of typefaces and font pairings, featuring an assortment of typographic illustrations inspired by Davide's need to explore typographic solutions and stay up to date with the latest releases from his favourite independent foundries. Vol. 1 is available now; he's currently working in Vol. 2.
05. Liam Neeson: Once More Into the Fray
Oliver Gareis (opens in new tab) is lead designer at Appico in Hamburg, and he's worked with top brands such as Volkswagen, Audi and EA Games over his design career. He's also a big fan of Liam Neeson, which has inspired him to create this massive, detailed illustration combining his favourite Neeson characters into a single digital artwork. Once More Into the Fray (opens in new tab) was created entirely in Illustrator CC, and between tracking down source imagery and finishing the digital piece, the process took him around six months.
06. Holarchy
Some side projects are big, finished projects, while others are works in progress, and the latter's the case for this project by Martin Silvertant (opens in new tab) , a Canadian graphic designer and sporadic type designer. Holarchy (opens in new tab) , he explains, is a layered modular typeface for a website that he's about design; it's in the early stages right now, but definitely looks promising.
07. Illustrated Tapes
Who can resist a good mixtape? And if you also love great illustration then Sam Ailey (opens in new tab) , a London-based illustrator and designer, has a fantastic side project for you. Illustrated Tapes (opens in new tab) does exactly what it says on the tin: he gets creatives to curate their own Spotify playlists and supply their own artwork for them, and he also chats to them about their musical tastes and of course their work. It's the perfect way to hear some new sounds and discover some fantastic illustrators.
08. Illo Notes
Another illustration-based side project, Illo Notes (opens in new tab) is the work of Taaryn Brench (opens in new tab) , an illustrator and designer based in Leeds. It's an illustration blog that aims to showcase amazing illustrators and also demystify the illustration business, with a mix of interviews and tips. It's been up and running since April this year, and Brench is looking for more illustrators to interview; if you're interested, drop her a line.
Related articles:
- How to start a side project: 21 pro tips (opens in new tab)
- 9 tips for better side projects (opens in new tab)
- How to self-publish a book (opens in new tab)
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Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.
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Graphic Design Is My Passion
A strong feeling or excitement to do something in life is called Passion. Each human being with a creative mindset has a passion. That Passion pulls us through our whole life. Some want to be a singer or an artist. Others want to be a doctor or an engineer, etc. The Passion varies from man to man. I do also have a passion, and that is graphic designing. Yes, Graphic Design is my Passion.
Table of Contents
What is Graphic Design?
Before telling why I choose graphic design as a passion, I would like to discuss what is graphic design. So, what is it? What does it mean?
Graphic design is a visual communication process. Designers use typography, photography, iconography, and illustrations in this process. Graphic designers make use of symbols, images, and texts to visualize ideas.
In the ancient age, it was known as graphical arts on papers. But with technological advancement, the term has changed a lot. Now, graphic design means creating content with digital photos and texts. Graphic designers do this with the help of computer software. They design logos, brands, magazines, newspapers, flyers, etc. with graphic designing software.
Maybe I have been able to explain at least a little about the concept of graphic design. Now, I’m going to explain my point of view about why Graphic Design is My Passion.
Why Graphic Design Is My Passion?
As I said before, Passion is all about your logical feelings or emotion for doing something big. It relies upon you as an individual and what matters to you. A creative person creates what he loves to create. All you need is an amazing idea. Then, if you apply your knowledge and experience, you can transform that idea into reality. Whatever the case is, becoming a better human being is creating better.
Graphic design is My Passion, and with this, I can create something better. It is the only field I found feelings for. In me, I can feel that graphic designing has a strong impact on me like gravity. But not only with the emotion. With my expertise and experience, I found graphic design is the best option to have a career.
I have always loved arts and crafts. Now technologies have made these things more accessible. Computer software made designing easier and created a field of opportunities. Those opportunities make me believe that Graphic Designing is My Passion.
Now I will talk about reality. The practical reasons for choosing graphic design as a passion are many. Graphic designing is an ocean with opportunities. Almost every sector in the digital world requires graphic design. It will be easy to answer ‘which job doesn’t need a graphic designer instead of ‘who needs’.
Every business needs graphic designing for photography and video graphic activities. So, job opportunities in graphic design are endless. The demand for graphic designers and illustrators is inevitable. The world will need their expertise in the future too. Besides the visual design industry is growing. And there will be more opportunities soon.
There are many success stories in this field. But they weren’t so easy to achieve. The path for being a successful designer is another reason why Graphic Design is My Passion. It will be tough for a beginner. But, after a long practice, anyone could be a successful graphic designer.
How to be a Successful Graphic Designer?
The first thing is you need to stick with the decision that ‘Graphic Design is My Passion’. The next step is learning. Before claiming yourself a graphic designer, you must learn how to do that. For that, you need to develop the basic skills in graphic designing first. I prefer self-learning. There are thousands of videos about graphic design tutorials on the internet. Many professionals uploaded those videos. For learning various materials on your own, YouTube can be a great platform. At least for the basic understanding, you can watch those videos. Thus, you can develop your skills by practicing.
Then you must take a professional’s help in advanced graphic designing. In that case, you can take short courses or enroll yourself in graphic designing courses. You can also complete a diploma in graphic design if you want. But all that matters is your practice and creativity in graphic designing.
After developing technical skills, the next step is looking for work. Good visuals are very important for Brands and Agencies. So, they need a professional full-time or freelance graphic designer. There are also opportunities for you in the media, online outlets, newspapers. The need for attractive visuals in the future world will be huge.
A diverse work portfolio would be an advantage at this stage for getting a job as a graphic designer. In the present day, employers don’t care about your academic certificates. They want to see how good the work is.
Almost every graduate in the world writes Graphic Design is My Passion in their resume. Whether they know designing or not. Not only in the resume. Graphic Designing is My Passion is a term now. There is a little story about it how everybody in the internet world is familiar with the term.
Before going to the next step, I want to share that little story. It is about how a massive number of people make memes with the term Graphic Designing is My Passion.
On July 2014, Yungterra, a Tumblr user, posted a photo of a cloudy sky with a green cartoon frog. And above the picture, he wrote ‘Graphic Designing is My Passion’. Then it has gone viral. In one year, that photo reached over 352 thousand notes. Still, now, people make memes using this term. Many design t-shirts with the text ‘Graphic Design is My Passion. Even now, every day, thousands of people search about it on Google.
You can have a clear idea from the story is how many people are passionate about graphic design. But every one of them is not a good designer or professional. So, if you write Graphic Design is My Passion in your resume with lots of certificates is not enough. You have to show the employer what potential do you have. Creating a work portfolio by doing many works would be a great help in that case.
Freelancing or Full-time Graphic Designer?
There are two types of graphic designers. One is a full time, and another kind is a freelance graphic designer. Both have challenges and possibilities. It is up to you which one fascinates you most. If you choose to freelance, then you have to work on your own.
But, if you decide to be a full-time graphic designer, you have to work with other designers. There, you can develop your skills by gaining more experience.
Life is quite hard for a full-time graphic designer. Even after a lot of hard work, the payment is very low. And the work rate varies from agency to agency.
Again, as a freelancer that’s not easy either. You have to work extra hard if you want to work as a freelancer for the rest of your life. In the beginning, you’ll have to struggle a lot. It won’t be easy to find clients for a beginner. But having patience and being a fast learner, you’ll achieve a position sooner or later. Graphic design is already a competitive field. So, if you want to survive, you have to fight for it.
Example of Graphic Design Is My Passion Meme
In graphic designing, self-development should be the primary concern. First, you have to master the skills with a lot of practice and learning. And the most important thing is a good work portfolio to be a successful graphic designer. Then you don’t have to look for clients anymore. They will look for you. You have to spend a lot of time on something you are passionate about. The Passion must include creating something new for others. You have to engage yourself in your Passion.
Thus, Graphic Design is My Passion because I’m too involved in it, and I love what I do.
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The Business of Graphic Design: Protect & Perfect Your Passion
Aaron draplin, designer and founder, draplin design company, watch this class and thousands more, lessons in this class, 1. introduction, 2. perfecting project templates, 3. refining file structure, 4. emailing like an expert, 5. building an invoice, 6. refining tax forms, 7. crafting contracts, 8. optimizing accounting, 9. protecting your business, 10. final thoughts.
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About This Class
Want to spend more time doing what you love and less time managing it? Renowned designer Aaron Draplin shares his secrets to a streamlined creative business!
When you start making money from your creative passion, it’s easy to get caught up in your craft and ignore all the “businessy” things. If spending hours crafting a logo for a new client is a walk in the park, navigating taxes, client contracts, and email etiquette can feel more like an uphill battle. Luckily, legendary graphic designer Aaron Draplin isn’t just a fan of logo design and long afternoons with Adobe Illustrator. He also enjoys making an honest living as a self-employed designer by running a business that works like a well-oiled machine.
In this class, Aaron reveals how to be as elegant off the page as you are on it by:
- Building clean, crisp project templates
- Optimizing your file structure and file names
- Treating email like the artform it is
- Understanding the building blocks of a strong invoice
- Getting ahead of potential problems and staying above the law
Plus, Aaron shares the mistakes he’s made as a business owner, and what he wishes he’d done differently over two decades (and counting!) running the Draplin Design Co.
This class is designed for any self-employed creative—designer or not—who wants to nail down the admin side of owning a business. By the end, you’ll have an actionable business management to-do list that’ll help you feel more confident and protected, and allow you to impress clients with every interaction. Save time on the front end by streamlining your operations, and discover more time for the work you love—and some well-earned play!
This class is geared toward self-employed creatives at all career stages. While it contains no financial or tax-related advice, it does lay out the steps you need to make sure you have all of your business bases covered. Bring a notebook and a pencil so you can create a personalized to-do list as you enjoy the class.
Meet Your Teacher
Aaron Draplin
Designer and Founder, Draplin Design Company
Bred from the loins of the proud Midwest, this guy was squeezed out in Detroit, in the year 1973 to the proud parents of Jim and Lauren Draplin. Growing up on a steady stream of Legos, Star Wars, family trips, little sisters, summer beach fun, stitches, fall foliage, drawing, skateboarding and snowboarding, at 19 he moved west to Bend, Oregon to hit jumps "Out West." His career started with a snowboard graphic for Solid snowboards and took off like wildfire soon after. Everything from lettering cafe signs to drawing up logos to thinking up local advertising campaigns were manhandled under the ruse of the newly formed-and gigantically reckless-Draplindustries Design Co.
After five winters out west, the kid sobered up and headed back to Minneapolis to finish up a high-falutin' desi... See full profile
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Hands-on class project.
Let’s see those business building blocks!
From your perfectly formulated file names to your invoice template, we want to see how you’re leveling up your business through expert administration. Just remember to keep your private information confidential. If you love the way your W-9 looks after a few adjustments, feel free to share it with a fun, made-up address rather than information like your real address or social security number.
A few reminders:
- Investing in your business is just as important as investing in good marketing or a strong logo. By protecting yourself legally, you’ll be better equipped to handle any unwelcome surprises.
- Be careful when taking financial or tax advice online. It’s always better to speak with a professional.
- Knowing your business is protected can help you feel more confident as a small business owner, which often shines through to your clients.
- Be creative and curious in business ownership. Enjoy the process of learning, and if you don’t have an answer, don’t be afraid to ask.
- Connect with Aaron on his website , Twitter , and Instagram
- Explore Aaron's other classes on logo design , illustration , making merch , and more
- Learn more about Aaron’s work, inspiration, and advice in his book Draplin Design Co.: Pretty Much Everything
Explore More Classes on Skillshare
- Make Creativity Your Career: Six Exercises to Create a Successful Side Project — Andy J. Pizza
- Build Your Business and Brand: Translating Your Passion Into a Plan — Rebecca Minkoff
- Creative Productivity: Build a Brief to Boost Your Passion Project — Lauren Hom
- Start Your Creative Career: Build a Sharp, Smart Online Presence — Sonja Rasula
- Discovering Success: 7 Exercises to Uncover Your Purpose, Passion & Path — Emma Gannon
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In October 2018, we updated our review system to improve the way we collect feedback. Below are the reviews written before that update.
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Unlock access to 4 million resources — at no cost to you — with a school-funded subscription., passion project with design thinking (graphic organizer pdf and google doc).
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Description.
Check out this graphic organizer for passion projects that students can use to document their learning when going through the design thinking process!
At the bottom of the PDF, you will find a link to the Google Docs version of the graphic organizer. Make a copy and share it with your students!
PASSION PROJECTS
Passion projects are learning opportunities where students identify their passions and use their passions to accomplish real-world goals that can be beneficial to specific people or living things. These projects allow students the freedom to learn what they want and how they want through self-inquiry. Students gain autonomy, while mastering specific learning goals through intrinsic motivation. Teachers take on the role of mentors who facilitate learning and provide guiding questions to further the progress of the student.
DESIGN THINKING
Many projects require students to design and create a solution to a real-world problem. This solution can be a tangible product, a service, or an action plan with detailed information of how to solve the problem. Students use the design thinking process to develop these solutions. Design thinking is an iterative method used to solve complex problems with a focus on human-centered design. This solution-thinking method is ideal for project-based learning and integrated units because it requires radical collaboration between different subject areas, and generates creative and innovative ideas for complex problems. The process involves five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Students use the Design Thinking Digital Interactive Notebook to document their progress in developing their solution.
It is important to note that this template cannot be shared or used by people other than you and your students. Colleagues, administrators and other professionals will need to purchase their own template.
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Once I found out that Mission offered online classes, I jumped at the chance and took courses in Photoshop, Illustrator, entry-level Graphic Design, and Photography, until there were no more online classes I could take. The positive energy and supportive environment I've experienced from fellow Graphic Design students is amazing.
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Adobe Illustrator (GDS 062)
A beginning digital illustration course for graphic designers, illustrators, and artists. Learn how to create original illustrations and designs using Adobe Illustrator.
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Study interaction design, info architecture, user research, and UX planning.
Introduction to Adobe Photoshop (GDS 064)
A beginning course for graphic designers, artists, and photographers. Create original artwork, refine photographs, and manipulate digital imagery.
Graphic Design 1 (GDS 035)
Learn about the practical, artistic, and technical sides of Graphic Design. Gain the critical thinking and technical skills required for careers in Graphic Design.
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Design, program, test, and publish a mobile game.
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Develop interactive web pages using JavaScript programming.
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At Mission College, we facilitate degrees and certificates in Digital Illustration, Graphic Arts, Web Design/Development, and Multimedia. Develop a portfolio and prepare for transfer or job interviews. Learn more about Graphic Design jobs.
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Each winning entrant will receive a personalized Award of Excellence, milled from solid aluminum, and award certificates issued for firms, individuals and clients.
CA’s Award of Excellence is one of the most-coveted awards in the industry. If chosen, winning places you in the highest ranks of your profession.
2020 Design Jury
What to Enter: Information on eligibility, categories and fees. How to Enter: Information on preparation of entries and forms. Design Competition FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions about applications and file formats. Student Category FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions about submitting student entries.
What to Enter
Any design project printed, published or aired for the first time from May 2019 through May 2020 is eligible. Publication means in a form of mass media exposed to a substantial audience. Entries may originate from any country, but we need an English translation for the jurors. Submission of entries acknowledges the right of Communication Arts to use them for publication and exhibition.
Design Competition Categories These categories are judged by the Design jury and will appear in the Design Annual. For a list of fees, please download the category PDF :
Packaging: labels, shopping bags, audio/video/software packaging, etc. Trademarks: single trademark or logo Identity Guides: corporate identity manuals/style guides, brand strategy guides, etc. Integrated Branding Programs: comprehensive identity programs. May include trademarks, business papers, websites, etc. Business Papers: business papers for a single company For Profit Annual Reports: annual report for publicly-traded companies Non-Profit Annual Reports: annual report for nonprofit organizations Institutional Brochures: institutional/corporate/social responsibility/booklet or brochure Product/Service Brochures: product or service booklet or brochure Product Catalogs: includes product images, descriptions, specifications, price etc. School Catalogs: course catalog for colleges, universities or other educational outlets. Catalogs for art schools offering courses in visual communications belong in Self-Promotion Exhibition Catalogs: brochure listing works at an art exhibition or book published to accompany an exhibit. Miscellaneous Company Literature: conference literature, announcements, company invitation/greeting card, etc. Posters: posters for exhibitions, institutional, theaters, movies, etc. Editorial: consumer and trade magazines, newspapers, house organs/newsletters/association publications, etc. Books: covers and complete books Self-Promotion: promotion for design firms, printers, paper companies, art schools, illustrators and photographers Self-Promotion for Design Clubs: promotion/communication for art/design clubs Motion Graphics: program titles, event videos, animation, music videos, etc. Public Service: work produced for nonprofits, including zoos, museums, orchestras, ballet companies, etc. Environmental Graphics: signage, interiors, architectural graphics, exhibits, tradeshow booths, point-of-purchase displays, etc. Personal Announcements: personal invitations/greeting cards/birth announcements, etc. Calendars: calendars for sale or created for clients. Calendars created for self-promotion belong in Self-Promotion Menus: single and series of menus created for establishments serving food Miscellaneous: work not covered in previous categories Student Work: work created for school assignments
Late Fees In recognition of the current financial hardship, no late fees will be charged this year. However, no entries will be accepted after May 22, 2020.
How to Enter All competition entries are processed through our online competition system.
Before you begin the process of entering a competition, please have the following information and materials ready. This will make the process go quickly:
• Your contact information for registration and notification. • Title and basic credits for each project. • Digital files of work you want to submit. See below for file specs.
Entries can be submitted in the following formats:
Digital Images: Must be RGB in JPG or JPEG format with a maximum file size of 2MB.
Video Entries: Must be in MOV, MP4, MPG or MPEG format, with a maximum file size of 500MB.
PDF Entries: Must have a maximum file size of 50MB.
All entrants grant Communication Arts the right to reproduce work selected in the Design Competition on the Communication Arts website and in materials used to promote the magazine, the competition and/or future related promotions.
Forms and Entry Fees Once you have completed the registration process, a PDF with an invoice will be generated.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal through our online competition system. Charges for your entry fees will appear on your statement as (“Commarts Competition Fees”). We also accept checks, international money orders and wire transfers. Make checks payable to Communication Arts. Non-United States contestants wishing to pay by check must send a check in U.S. funds drafted on a U.S. bank. Please include a copy of your invoice with the check or money order. Please note on wire transfers: We require an additional fee of $25 (U.S.) to cover fees charged by the banks to process the transfer. If you would like to pay via Wire Transfer, please contact us at [email protected] for bank information.
Refund Policy All entry submissions are final and entry fees are nonrefundable.
Mail checks to:
Communication Arts Design Competition 110 Constitution Drive Menlo Park, CA 94025-1107 USA
(Via United States Mail, FedEx, UPS, etc. Entrants submitting from outside the U.S., please use an international courier.)
Notification of Acceptance Only accepted entrants will be notified within two months after the final deadline date due to the number of entries we receive. Complete credits and any necessary material for the best possible reproduction in the Annual will be requested at that time.
Questions If you have any other questions you can reach us by:
Email: [email protected] Phone: (650) 326-6040 Fax: (650) 326-1648
FAQs Can I get an extension on the deadline? After the May 1, 2020 deadline, we will accept entries until May 22, 2020. In recognition of the current financial hardship, no late fees will be charged this year. No entries can be registered after May 22, 2020.
Do you offer a cash prize? We do not offer a cash prize. Each winning entrant will receive a personalized Award of Excellence trophy, milled from solid aluminum, and award certificates issued for firms, individuals and clients. The winners are also featured in one of our annuals distributed worldwide, in both print and digital editions, and on commarts.com, assuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work.
Can I submit my work via e-mail and just include a credit card number with it? No, we do not accept entries via e-mail. All entries must be registered using our online competition system.
Will you confirm receipt of my entries? Once you register your entries on our online competition system and select a payment method you will receive a confirmation email.
How do I edit an entry that has already been submitted? If you need to change anything about your entry, please contact us at [email protected] and include your entry set number.
Can I enter one project into multiple categories? Yes, as long as the project fits in each category you want to enter.
Can I enter my work as a series? Yes, but all work in a series must be part of the same campaign. When works are submitted as a series they are judged together as a group. The overall strength of the series depends on each individual piece and its function within the campaign.
Can I enter work in the single and series categories? Yes, you can enter work as a series and the individual images as single entries.
If my entry is accepted, what will you use for reproduction? If your work is accepted we will request high-res reproduction materials at that time.
How do you want trademarks/logos presented? Please include the client name and the nature of the business in the description field.
Where do we put creative credits? We only need basic credit information during the judging process. If the piece is selected as a winner, we will ask for a full list of credits at that time.
I don't know which category to put my piece in? Choose the category that you feel best fits your submission. If we feel another category is more appropriate, we will move it; your work will not be penalized or disqualified.
We're waiting on the check from our accounting department. Can we have an extension? You can register your entries online now and select that you are sending your payment by check. When the check is ready, please send it with a copy of your invoice.
How do I enter a website? If you would like your project judged for its visual design, submit it as a series of captured screenshots in the Miscellaneous Design category of the Design Competition. If the website is part of an Integrated Branding Program, include the URL along with all of the other components of the campaign. If it is the entire website you want judged, enter it in our Interactive Competition .
What rights do I retain if my work is chosen? You retain all rights to your images. If selected, you will need to grant us the right to reproduce the image or images for our online, digital and print-based publications.
How does the judging take place? Each juror views a portion of all the entries independently, choosing “in” or “out” for each piece. Judges are not permitted to vote on work they were directly involved in. A majority vote is required for a project to move from the screening round into the finals round. For finals, the judges view each project that was voted into the finals round independently, choosing “in” or “out” for each piece. After the judges make their selections, their votes are tallied. A simple majority is usually the minimum requirement for a finalist to be selected a winner.
When will we know if our entry was chosen? If your entry is chosen we will notify you within two months after the final deadline date. Because of the number of entries we receive, we can only notify people whose work is accepted.
Will you supply a receipt for my entry fees? Yes. Once you have selected a payment method for your entries, you will be able to download/print your receipt or invoice. If you need to access the receipt at a later date, sign-in to our competition system and under “My Account” click “Invoices”. You will be able to download and print receipts from any of our competitions you have previously entered.
Why don’t you accept print entries any more? We have recently upgraded our competition system to an online-only judging process and can no longer accept printed entries.
Student Category FAQs What can be entered in the Student Work category? Any project created for a school assignment. We do not accept personal unpublished work in this competition.
The work must be completely original and not utilize content owned by another copyright holder unless the entrant has been granted specific usage rights. If a student project is selected and documentation of specific usage rights cannot be supplied, the project will be disqualified. Communication Arts is not liable for any copyright infringement on the part of the entrant, and will not become involved in copyright disputes.
Is there a discount for student entries? Yes, there is a substantial discount for student entries completed as a school assignment. However, if work is entered after the initial deadline a late fee of $10 per entry will be added.
Can I enter one project into multiple categories? If the work is entered in the Student Work category, it cannot be entered in other categories.
Should I enter my video entry as digital images and upload the video? No. Do not upload screenshots of video entries. The jury will only judge the screenshots and not the video.
Questions about what to enter, how to enter and other frequently asked questions can be found in the Design Competition FAQs .
Communication Arts
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To get you started, here are 6 graphic design project ideas you can try the next time you need a little extra motivation. 1. Timed Experiments Looking for a quick way to unblock? Setting yourself a challenge that is restricted by time is a great way to increase creativity and produce some fun, unexpected results.
1. Sharpen Design Sharpen Design has generated over five million design prompts to help you prep for an interview, think on your toes, try out new tools or techniques with low consequence, or just to have fun. It's also a fantastic way to show companies how you think through problems and solve them in unique ways.
This year's graphic design and communication graduates from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) have created brilliant and thought-provoking projects, from editorial design and...
Next Steps: Start Organizing Your Graphic Design Portfolio Your designer rating depends on the skills you bring to the table, including creativity, communication, and coding. The beauty of constantly embarking on design projects is that you'll sharpen your skill while growing your portfolio.
350+ Passion Project Ideas for the Uninspired but Creative Soul March 27, 2021 In a recent post, I talked about all the great, life-changing reasons you should have a creative passion project. Since sharing the post, I've even heard back from people who shared their own passion project ideas with me, and it's been nothing short of amazing.
A Graphic Designer's Passion Project One of Magnetic Creative's own, Kasey Mahoney, started a 30-day passion project, with the goal of helping his nephew learn the alphabet in a bright and colorful way. He challenged himself to illustrate a letter each night until the project was complete.
What Are Passion Projects? Passion projects are projects that inspire you; projects that push you to explore your inner creativity and personality. It is important to note that passion projects aren't hobbies nor should they be approached as some type of side income.
Logopoppin is a graphic design agency that specializes in logo designing, web development, video production and advanced branding services. We love to innovate businesses with new age technologies, allowing them to improve their visual reputation. Subscribe for weekly updates 1. The Wide Scope of Graphic Designing
Sep 7, 2022 - Explore Henzel Gapay's board "PASSION PROJECT", followed by 269 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about branding design, passion project, graphic design inspiration.
Passion Projects | YTZ Graphic Design 2022 Self-Improving passion Project As someone who has worked in the field of creative works and aspire to be better, I think I have reached the point once again that I need to improve myself, my skills, and my knowledge.
Simply set yourself to a specific timeline, like 2 months, and every day, you'll use the FakeClients generator to generate a new graphic design exercise for you. This will get you used to the whole design process of coming up with an idea, working it out and finishing it.
Passion Project designs, themes, templates and downloadable graphic elements on Dribbble Discover 300+ Passion Project designs on Dribbble. Your resource to discover and connect with designers worldwide. 📚LAST CHANCE! Registration for our 16 week Product Design course closes on Monday, February 27. Sign up now before spots run out!
Some of the best graphic design portfolios today include these elements: Motion graphics Video Original illustrations Animation Product design UX design Ad campaigns Storyboards Brand identity Let's look at some graphic design portfolio website examples to inspire and motivate your portfolio development.
Podcast Host. Passion Designer. I'm constantly looking to bring more adventure travel and good coffee in my life and really love making an impact on the world in the process. (Most likely, just like you.) As an artist, my jam is showing Creatives how to create an amazing life + biz around what they love (and are best at) doing. I'm all ...
A passion project is an activity or endeavor you pursue because it inspires you and gives you deep satisfaction, fulfillment, and engagement. It's something you pursue for the sheer joy of it. The love of what you are doing outweighs any other considerations. Your passion project may be related to your career, or it may lead to a career.
My Passion Project Website Design Layout Graphic Design Inspiration Site Portfolio Feminine Website Minimal Web Design Photographer Website Website Web Elegant website design concept for a photographer by Adrienn White. Website design inspiration. Minimal website layout. Website interaction inspiration. Website animation inspiration. Hero section.
is the side project of designer Lauren Hom and is an online creative bootcamp on how to create a killer passion project that will kickstart your career. Lauren cites side projects as the no. 1 reason she was able to grow her business as a freelance illustrator and find success at such a young age and this course is here to help others do the ...
06. Holarchy. There's not a lot to it right now, but Holarchy looks fascinating (Image credit: Martin Silvertant) Some side projects are big, finished projects, while others are works in progress, and the latter's the case for this project by Martin Silvertant, a Canadian graphic designer and sporadic type designer.
Graphic design is a visual communication process. Designers use typography, photography, iconography, and illustrations in this process. Graphic designers make use of symbols, images, and texts to visualize ideas. In the ancient age, it was known as graphical arts on papers.
Luckily, legendary graphic designer Aaron Draplin isn't just a fan of logo design and long afternoons with Adobe Illustrator. He also enjoys making an honest living as a self-employed designer by running a business that works like a well-oiled machine. ... Build a Brief to Boost Your Passion Project — Lauren Hom; Start Your Creative Career ...
Check out this graphic organizer for passion projects that students can use to document their learning when going through the design thinking process! At the bottom of the PDF, you will find a link to the Google Docs version of the graphic organizer. Make a copy and share it with your students!PASSI...
Skills and Opportunities. Work with Real clients in Silicon Valley by interning. Download Graphic Design & Multimedia brochure. Earn a degree or certificate. Learn Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, as well as apps like Sketch and Axure. Transfer to a four-year college. Build a portfolio of work.
Closed. Enter the most prestigious competition for creativity in graphic design, the Communication Arts Design Competition. Any design project printed, published or aired for the first time from May 2019 through May 2020 is eligible. Selected by a jury of leading design professionals, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the ...
Jan 2016 - Sep 20193 years 9 months. 941 Avenida Acaso, Camarillo, CA 93012. Managed and coached graphic design team members and reviewed all produced materials coming out of the art department ...
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-1 Likes, 0 Comments - Graphic Designer ~ Girish Salunkhe (@girish_retouch) on Instagram: ""Retouching portraits has been a passion of mine for years, and it never gets old. With each…"